JPH0243432Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a lower tray for a Pachinko machine that is attached to the lower front surface of the Pachinko machine, and particularly to a ball outlet thereof.

(Problems with the conventional technology) In recent pachinko machines, the ball launcher has been motorized, and the player can simply rotate the control dial with his/her right hand and the ball will be hit with a force corresponding to the amount of rotation. It is fired continuously.

Also, if a ball hits a specific winning hole or the like in a specific gaming state, for example,
A so-called jackpot state occurs in which the winning probability increases dramatically until a certain period of time passes, and a large number of winning balls are generated and a large amount of winning balls are paid out within a short period of time. Players seek this jackpot state, seek the excitement of it, and become absorbed in the game.

A large amount of prize balls that are paid out when a jackpot occurs is first delivered to the batted ball supply tray, and when the batted ball supply tray is full, the flow path is automatically changed and the prize balls are sent to the lower tray. It will be paid out.

However, in most jackpot situations, the lower tray also becomes full quickly, and balls must be transferred from the lower tray to the ball box. This is because if the ball supply tray to the lower tray become full of balls, ball firing will automatically become impossible and the game will be interrupted.

Now, when transferring the ball from the lower tray to the ball box in the jackpot state, the player's one hand (right hand) cannot be removed from the operation dial due to the need to continue playing, so the player uses only the other hand. Since the ball must be transferred quickly and smoothly by operation, and the shots are continuous, the player cannot take his/her line of sight off the game board.

However, in the conventional lower tray, the balls do not move smoothly, especially when a large number of balls are stored.
Due to the downward pressure of the ball flow, the balls tend to pile up like a stone wall in the ball outlet of the lower tray, causing a so-called ball jam, and even though the ball is removed, the balls do not flow out, which hinders the progress of the game. This caused dissatisfaction among players.

For example, the applicant of the present application proposed the Jikko 55
In the lower trays in the two embodiments published in Publication No. 47594, each opening 3 of the lower tray 1 is provided with a gutter 18 for guiding the balls flowing down from the opening 3. 18, there was a problem in that the so-called "ball clogging", in which the balls piled up like a stone wall and became clogged while flowing down the gutter, was likely to occur.

Further, as can be seen from the drawing in FIG. 1 of the same publication, there is a step at the edge of the opening 3 on which the outflowing ball easily catches.

That is, in the lower tray shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 of the same publication, there is a gap between the edge portion of the opening 3 on the player side and the wall of the lower tray 1 on the player side. Since the bottom surface extends slightly, the ball hangs on the stepped portion of the L-shaped cross section formed by the bottom surface portion extending here and the wall running along the bottom surface portion, and the ball hangs on the step portion of the opening 3. At the stage when the opening 3 is closed, the balls spread over the entire bottom surface and stacked in many layers tend to be balanced by the ball pressure acting horizontally on the wall, and the opening 3 becomes open. However, even if the opening 3 is opened, the opening 3 tends to look like a bridge is formed and does not fall smoothly.

On the other hand, the lower tray shown in FIG. 4 and subsequent figures of the same publication receives the end of the opening/closing member 28 that closes the opening 3, as clearly shown in the leader line section 30 in FIG. A supporting step is present on the wall side of the lower tray 1. This step also served as a foothold for the spheres that formed the bridge.

Furthermore, since one side of the opening 23 is also used as the front surface of the pachinko machine, the gutter 36 becomes an essential structure, which is impractical.

(Purpose of the invention) The present invention has been made with the aim of solving the above-mentioned problems and providing a lower tray that does not easily cause balls to become jammed when a player performs a ball extraction operation with his left hand.

(Structure of the invention) The lower tray of the invention stores balls formed by surrounding the three sides with the front wall part 15 and the left and right side walls 16 and 17, excluding the back part that comes into contact with the front side of the pachinko machine. an opening/closing member 24 located on the lower surface of the first ball outlet 21 formed in the bottom surface 18 of the tray section 12 to open and close the first ball outlet 21; A lower frame body 14 that supports the opening/closing member 24 in a reciprocating manner on its side and has a second ball outlet 41 formed therein.
The first ball outlet 21 has a substantially rectangular shape, and one corner of the substantially rectangular shape is connected to the two wall portions 15 and 1, which are the front wall portion 15 and either the left or right side wall portions 16, 17.
6 or 17, and the inner corner side wall surface of the two walls 15 and 16 or 17 is located at the opening edge 21 of the first ball outlet 21.
A and 21B, and the inner corner side wall surfaces form wall surfaces 22A and 22B vertically rising from the opening edge of the first ball outlet 21, and the second ball outlet 41 has an opening area of The opening area is set to be approximately equal to or larger than the opening area of the first ball outlet 21, and the opening area is set opposite to the first ball outlet 21.

(Example) Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained based on drawings showing an example of implementation.

In FIG. 1, the flow path of the sphere will first be explained.

Ball supply tray 2 attached to the front of the pachinko machine 1
The balls thrown into the box are rectified one by one in a line and supplied to a firing position 5 set at the bottom of the game board 4, and then sent to a ball firing device (not shown) controlled by an operation dial 3. Therefore, the ball is launched onto the game section of the game board 4.

When the hit ball enters the large winning device 6A or other winning device 6B, the winning ball processing device (not shown) of the back mechanism 7 is activated and the prize in the tank 8 located at the top of the back mechanism 7 is activated. A predetermined number of balls are allowed to flow down into the batted ball supply tray 2 via the discharge gutter 9.

When the batted ball supply tray 2 is full of prize balls or is already full, the balls are allowed to flow down to the lower tray 11 provided at the lower front of the pachinko machine via a diversion gutter 10 that separates from the middle of the discharge gutter 9. It will be done.

When the lower tray 11 becomes full, the supply of balls to the firing position 5 is stopped, and the prize balls in the lower tray 11 are taken out to another container, for example, a ball box, and the balls are transferred to the lower tray 11. The game is suspended until there is room to accept the prize balls.

In FIGS. 2 and 5, the lower tray 11 is formed by vertically combining a tray body 13 as an upper component and a lower frame 14 as a lower component.
has a tray portion 12 in which balls are stored, and this tray portion 12
The bottom surface 18 has a first ball outlet 21, and the lower frame 14 has a second ball outlet 21 vertically communicating with the first ball outlet 21.
A ball outlet 41 is opened, and this first ball outlet 2
1 and the second ball outlet 41 constitute the ball outlet 21, 41.

The saucer main body 13 of the embodiment has a front wall 15 and a right side as a wall surrounding three sides of the tray 12 on three sides other than the back side that comes into contact with the front side of the pachinko machine, that is, the front, left and right sides. Wall part 16 and left side wall part 1
7 are formed to stand up substantially perpendicularly from the outer peripheral edge of the dish portion 12, respectively.

A tray portion 12 for storing balls surrounded by these front wall portion 15, right side wall portion 16, and left side wall portion 17.
The bottom surface 18 of the plate is sloped downward toward the corner (X shown in FIGS. 3 to 5) of the bottom surface 18 of the dish portion corresponding to the connecting portion between the front wall portion 15 and the right side wall portion 16. It is formed.

This is to guide the prize balls flowing out of the outlet 19 of the diverter 10 and the balls directly thrown into the tray section 12 by the player to naturally roll and flow toward the corner X direction. As a result, the prize balls will accumulate from the vicinity of the corner X to the periphery.

Therefore, due to the slope of the bottom surface 18, the balls in the dish part 12 are always subject to the action of flowing in the direction of the first ball outlet 21, and the balls at the most extreme position in that direction are moved toward the front wall part 15 and the right side. This results in a state of collision with the inner wall of the wall portion 16.

A ball extraction opening for extracting the ball of the tray part 12 is opened in the bottom surface 18 of the tray part 12 and the lower frame 14, and passes through the tray main body 13 and the lower receiving frame 14 in the vertical direction.

The first ball outlet 21 provided in the saucer body 13 as one component of the ball outlet is approximately square,
One corner of the first ball outlet 21 is aligned with the corner X, and two adjacent ones of the first ball outlet 21 are centered around the corner X.
The sides 21A and 21B are opened so as to coincide with and contact the inner walls of the front wall portion 15 and the right side wall portion 16 facing toward the dish portion 12 side.

That is, this first ball outlet 21 is connected to the front wall portion 1.
5 and the side wall portion 2 which is the inner wall of the right side wall portion 16, respectively.
2A and 22B face the two side walls 22.
A and 22B form walls rising vertically from the two sides 21A and 21B.

On the other hand, the other two sides 21C and 21D facing the side wall portions 22A and 22B are opposite to the side wall portion 2
It is formed at a position separated from 2A and 22B by at least twice the spherical diameter.

In this case, the distance between the two sides 21C and 21D facing the side walls 22A and 22B, and therefore the first
It is best to set the vertical and horizontal inner diameters of the ball extraction port 21 to "an integral multiple of twice or more the ball diameter + less than half the ball diameter." In the example, the length is 35 mm and the width is 25 mm. Note that the diameter of the pachinko ball is 11 mm.

When the inner diameter is determined in this way, the two adjacent sides of the first ball outlet 21 are the side wall portions 21A and 21B.
Therefore, the balls located on the other two sides 21C and 21D are always located on the opening surface of the first ball outlet 21. On the other hand, side wall portions 21A, 21
Since the ball on the B side is only in contact with a vertical surface, when the first ball outlet 21 is opened, the ball quickly falls due to its own weight.

That is, the balls lined up at the opening edge of the first ball outlet 21 are
At the entrance of the first ball outlet 21, the balls lose their footing to form an arch-shaped bridge with each other.

As a result, a large amount of balls stored in the lower tray 11 can be smoothly flowed out one after another from the first ball extraction port 21 without clogging the balls when removing the balls.

In the embodiment, one corner of the ball outlet formed in a substantially square shape is located at the corner X of the front wall 15 and the right side wall 16.
It may be located at the corner with 7.

In FIGS. 2 and 3, the second ball outlet 41 provided in the lower frame 14 as the other component of the ball outlet is the first ball outlet provided in the bottom surface 18 of the saucer portion of the saucer body 13. They are arranged opposite to each other so as to vertically communicate with the outlet 21. Although the opening area of the second ball outlet 41 in the embodiment is made approximately equal to the opening area of the first ball outlet 21, it may be set larger than the opening area of the first ball outlet 21.

The ball openings 21 and 41 are penetrated in the vertical direction, and only the presence of the opening/closing member 24, which will be described later, exists at least in the vertical direction of the first ball opening 21, particularly in the downward direction, so that there is no hindrance to the ball falling vertically. It is preferable that there be no protrusions or the like that would cause this.

By configuring the ball extraction ports 21 and 41 as described above, the balls in the dish portion 12 can be dropped smoothly and quickly. In addition, this second ball extraction hole 4
The lower frame body 14 on which the tray body 1 is provided is a frame body formed to cover the lower surface of the saucer body 13.

Opening/closing member 2 for opening/closing ball outlet 21, 41
4 is provided so as to slide horizontally from one open side of the frame edge 23 formed around the periphery of the second ball outlet 41 and fit into the edge frame 23, and is located on the bottom surface 18 of the tray portion of the saucer body 13. It is fitted so as to be slidably positioned on the back side. That is, the opening/closing member 24 is
It is located on the lower surface side of the first ball outlet 21 and is held between a lower frame body 14 having a frame edge 23 that supports the opening/closing member 24 in a reciprocating manner and a saucer body 13 .

A locking hole 25 having a rectangular cross section is bored in the side surface of the opening/closing member 24 toward the front of the Pachinko machine, and an engaging portion 27 of an operating plate 26 is removably inserted into the locking hole 25.

The actuating plate 26 is composed of the above-mentioned engaging portion 27 formed thinly in the horizontal direction, and a flat abutting portion 28 forming a contact surface that slides in contact with the inner surface of the front wall portion 15' of the lower frame 14. A spring 29 is engaged with the opening/closing member 24 to constantly bias the first ball outlet 21 to the closed state.

And, on the front wall portion 15' of the lower frame body 14,
A regulating hole portion 30 is opened, and the regulating hole portion 30 is elongated and bored in the horizontal direction to a length corresponding to a travel distance sufficient for the opening/closing member 24 to open and close the first ball extraction hole 21 .

On the other hand, the fitting part 31 of the operating lever 32 is passed through the regulation hole 30 from the front surface side of the front wall part 15' of the lower frame 14, and the fitting part 31 of the operating lever 32 is penetrated from the abutting part 28 side of the actuating plate 26. , the operating lever 32 and the contact portion 28 are fixed by inserting a fastening member such as a screw 33, and the operating plate 26 is configured to be removable. are connected so that they can be interlocked.

The front wall 15' of the lower frame 14 is connected to the operating lever 3.
2 and the abutting portion 28, and the regulating hole portion 30 serves to guide the operating lever 32 in the direction of the elongated hole, thereby increasing the operability of the operating lever 32.

Furthermore, the long hole of the regulating hole portion 30 appropriately regulates the operating range of the operating lever 32.

By configuring the lower tray 11 as described above, the player can open and close the opening/closing member 24 simply by operating the operating lever 32 with his left hand against the bias of the spring 29.
The first ball extraction hole 21 and the second ball extraction hole 41 can be brought into an open state by sliding the ball extraction hole 21 and the second ball extraction hole 41, allowing extremely quick and smooth ball extraction even while continuing the game by operating the operation dial 3 with the right hand. can be done.

In the above embodiment, the opening/closing member 24 is slid by manually operating the operating lever 32, but a solenoid is provided inside the lower frame 14, and the plunger of the solenoid is connected to the opening/closing member 24. , the opening/closing member 24 is opened/closed by the ON/OFF operation of a switch installed at an appropriate position on the outer surface of the lower saucer 11.
may be slid.

In the embodiment, the plurality of elongated holes 20 formed in the bottom surface 18 of the pan 12 are for brushing off dirt inside the pan 12. In addition, the left side wall portion 17
There is an ashtray outside.

(Effects of the invention) Since the invention is constructed as described above, the player can place the balls stored in the lower tray in another container.
For example, when transferring to a ball box, simply place the ball box below the ball outlet and slide the opening/closing member.
The balls in the lower tray can flow directly into the ball box, and compared to the conventional method of letting the balls flow down into the ball box via a gutter, there is no risk of clogging the balls. You can quickly pick up the ball.

In particular, according to the configuration of the ball outlet of the present invention, the ball that comes into contact with both inner corner side wall surfaces formed on two adjacent sides of the opening edge of the first ball outlet completely loses the foothold on which it should hang. Therefore, when the first and second ball outlets are opened, the ball that is in contact with the vertical wall will quickly fall from the ball outlet due to its own weight, and the ball will fall from the bottom of the saucer. Due to the presence of a vertical wall in front of the ball in the direction of flow, the balls that flow down and rush into the ball outlet have no foothold to form an arch-shaped bridge between the balls, so they are unable to reach the ball outlet. The ball flows out smoothly without causing any clogging.

In addition, since the opening area of the second ball outlet is approximately equal to or larger than the opening area of the first ball outlet, the ball that falls from the first ball outlet will be prevented even during the opening path. It will flow down smoothly.

Therefore, the player does not need to take his right hand off the operation dial, and while immersed in the game, he can remove the ball from the lower tray with a simple operation using only his left hand, without interrupting the game.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a pachinko machine, Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the lower tray,
FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the lower tray, FIG. 4 is a rear perspective view of the lower tray, and FIG. 5 is a partial plan view. 1...Pachinko machine, 2...Battered ball supply tray, 3...
Operation dial, 4...Game board, 11...Lower saucer, 12...Dish portion, 13...Saucer body, 14...
Lower frame, 15...Front wall, 15'...Front wall, 16...Right side wall, 17...Left side wall, 18
...Bottom surface, 19...Discharge port, 21...First ball outlet (ball outlet), 22A, 22B...Side wall portion (wall surface),
23... Frame edge, 24... Opening/closing member, 26... Operating plate, 29... Spring, 30... Regulation hole, 32...
Operation lever, 41...Second ball outlet (ball outlet), X
...corner.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim for Utility Model Registration] A tray portion for storing balls, which is formed by surrounding the three sides of the pachinko machine by a front wall portion and left and right side walls, excluding the back portion that comes into contact with the front side of the machine, and the tray portion. an opening/closing member located on the lower surface of a first ball outlet provided on the bottom surface of the plate for opening and closing the first ball outlet; and a second ball supporting the opening/closing member reciprocably on the lower surface side of the dish portion. a lower frame body in which an outlet is formed, and the first ball outlet has a substantially quadrangular shape, and one corner of the substantially quadrangular shape is formed between the two wall portions of the front wall portion and one of the left and right side wall portions. is located at the corner of the bottom surface of the dish part where the two walls are in contact with each other, and has the inner corner side wall surface of the two walls as the opening edge of the first ball outlet, and this inner corner side wall surface is the opening edge of the first ball outlet. a wall surface rising vertically from the edge, and the second ball outlet has an opening area set to be approximately equal to or larger than the opening area of the first ball outlet, A lower tray for a pachinko machine, characterized in that the tray is arranged opposite to the first ball outlet.