JPH0330381B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a ball alignment device in a prize ball supply gutter that is attached between a prize ball storage tank and a prize ball device.

As is well known, in many pachinko machines that are currently in practical use, the inside of the prize ball device is divided into two rows of storage chambers, in which a predetermined number of prize balls are stored, and each time there is a winning ball, these two are stored. The prize balls are released from two storage chambers, but since the prize balls are irregularly replenished and stored in the storage tank that stores the prize balls, the prize balls are released from the above-mentioned prize ball device. We need to divide the balls into two rows.

Conventionally, this alignment method involves raising a partition wall from the middle of the length inside the supply gutter that communicates between the two to form two passages, and this partition wall allows the water to be sent irregularly from the storage tank. The prize balls were divided into two rows and led to the prize ball device along two paths.

However, it is not always easy to separate the irregularly flowing balls into two rows by simply using a rising partition wall due to the bridging phenomenon of the balls, and sometimes the balls stick together at this branching point, causing a ball jam. This sometimes obstructed the flow of the supply gutter and prevented the smooth release of prize balls.

The present invention was researched and developed in view of the necessity of distributing prize balls inside the supply gutter. A partition wall that guides prize balls through the supply gutter to the supply gutter following the prize ball device, lowers the bottom surface of the feed gutter with respect to the downstream end of the guide plate to provide a step, and partitions the inside of the feed gutter into two passages. The rising height of the upstream end of the pachinko ball is set lower than the diameter of the pachinko ball, so that prize balls flowing down through the guide plate collide with the partition wall and cause a jam, or multiple balls simultaneously enter one path. It is an object of the present invention to provide an alignment device for a prize ball supply gutter that prevents balls from flowing into the ball and creating a bridging condition.

The drawing shows one embodiment of the device of the present invention.
Figure 1 is a partially sectional front view in use, Figure 2 is an enlarged front view of the main part with some parts cut out, Figure 3 is an enlarged plan view of the main part, and Figure 4 is the same as the above figure. 5 is an enlarged exploded slope view of the main part.

Reference numeral 1 in the drawing indicates a shallow frame-shaped base frame plate that is fixed to the back of a door frame 3 that is hinged to the front of the machine frame 2 so that it can be opened and closed; A storage tank for storing fixed prize balls, 5 is a guide plate installed horizontally just below the outlet 6 of the storage tank, 7 is a supply gutter installed below the storage tank following this guide plate, 8 The ball device 9 receives balls from the supply gutter.
A winning ball guiding path 10 is a ball receiving chamber for safe balls facing the back side of a game board (not shown) housed in the front surface of the base frame board 1.

The guide plate 5 shown here not only guides the balls in the storage tank 4 to the supply gutter 7, but also detects when there are no prize balls in the storage tank and controls the continuous rod 1.
The upstream end facing directly below the outlet 6 of the storage tank 4 is pivotally connected to the shaft 12; The downstream end is designed to swing up and down.

This guiding plate 5 receives the other end of a swinging rod 13 connected to the connecting rod 11 at one end on its lower surface, and this swinging rod receives the weight of the connecting rod 11 and is lifted up using the pivot 14 as a fulcrum, so that it is always The downstream end is raised (see Figure 2). When receiving a prize ball from the storage tank, the downstream end is pushed down by the pressure of the ball, and the ball is held in a downward slope to the right by contacting the pin 15, and the ball sent from the storage tank is sent along the slope. It is designed to be guided to the supply gutter 7.

In the figure, 16 is a mounting board extending downward from the back plate of the storage tank, and 17 is a cover placed opposite to the front of this mounting board. The guide plate 5 is this substrate 1
6 and the cover 17. A part of the cover 17 facing the guide plate 5 is made to protrude forward to provide a shelf 18 so that balls from the storage tank 4 can be received without overflowing.

The supply gutter 7 is connected to the mounting board 16 similarly to the guide plate 5 described above.
A bearing portion 20 is formed between the cover 17 and the bearing portion 20 provided on the lower surface of the upstream end of the bottom plate 19 as shown in the figure.
The partition wall 2 is fitted into the pin 21 implanted in the mounting board 16, and raised at the center of the upper surface of the bottom plate 19.
By fitting the bearing part 23 provided in 2 to the pin 24 of the base plate, it can be provided in a hanging manner.

This supply gutter 7 is connected to the prize ball guide path 8 with a step approximately equal to the diameter of one pachinko ball than the height of the downstream end of the guide plate 5 that brings the upstream end of the bottom plate 19 into contact with the pin 15. There is a gentle downward slope. A partition wall 22 standing in the center of the bottom plate 19 is formed over the entire length, and the height of its upstream end 22a is equal to the diameter of a pachinko ball (prize ball) as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4. It's lower.
Then, the height of the rise is gradually increased from the upstream end toward the center, and as shown in the figure, at the bearing part 23 which exceeds the diameter of the pachinko ball and reaches its top, the height exceeds the height of two pachinko balls. The gutter is then lowered again from the top to form a substantially mountain shape, and the partition wall 22 partitions the inside of the gutter into two parallel passages. Note that the bottom plate 19 is the mounting board 1.
6 and the cover 17, and a dirt removal gap 25 is provided in a part of the bottom surface of both passages.

In the figure, 26 is the partition wall 22 formed in a chevron shape.
It is a ball leveler attached so that it rides on the upper edge of the rear half of the ball.

This ball leveling 26 is formed in a width that covers the two passages of the supply gutter 7, and its rear end 26a is pivoted to a shaft 27 implanted in the mounting board, so that its tip can swing freely. It is set up like this. Normally, the balls lean against the upper edge of the partition wall 22 due to their own weight, and guide the overlapping and flowing balls to the downstream side of the smoothing passage with their slanted lower surface, and when passing through the rear end, the balls flow into the partition wall 22. It is arranged so that it flows one by one.

The device of the present invention is constructed as described above, and as is clear from the above explanation, the prize balls stored in the storage tank 4 fall through the outlet 6 onto the guide plate 5 installed horizontally directly below. The guide plate is pushed down by ball pressure until it contacts the pin 15, tilting downward to the right, and flows down to the supply gutter 7 along this inclination, but in the present invention, both the guide plate 5 and the supply gutter 7 are tilted downward to the right. At the same time, since there is a step at the connection between the two, the balls can easily transfer from the guide plate to the supply gutter, and the upstream end 22a of the partition wall 22 that divides the feed gutter into two. Since the height of the ball is smaller than the diameter of one pachinko ball, if the ball flowing from the guide plate 5 runs onto the previous ball at the upstream end 22a of this partition wall, it will flow to one side without being obstructed by the partition wall. The balls roll from one passage to the other and are smoothly distributed to either passage without causing ball clogging due to overlapping of balls, and the flow is not blocked or the entrance of the passage is blocked. .

That is, according to the present invention, since the rising height of the upstream end 22a of the partition wall 22 is formed to be lower than the diameter of one pachinko ball, the balls flowing down into the supply gutter 7 overlap each other at this upstream end. Instead, they cross the partition wall and are sorted into the other aisle. The height of this partition wall increases gradually from the upstream end toward the downstream side, and is formed to a height that exceeds the diameter of the pachinko balls. They will be sorted and guided to one of the aisles. As a result, the ball does not stop at the upper edge of the wall, but instead enters one of the passages in the supply gutter, is smoothly distributed, guided to the prize ball guiding path 8 through each passage, and is further sent to the prize ball device 9. Become.

Of course, at this time, the balls distributed to both passages may create a weighted state in each passage due to subsequent ball pressure, but at this time, the ball is smoothed by the ball leveling 26, so the prize ball guidance is difficult. They will be fed one by one into the two lanes in a lined up state.

As described above, even if a large number of prize balls irregularly flow down from the storage tank 4, the device of the present invention allows the balls to roll on the guide plate 5 to the supply gutter 7 continuing downstream.
More specifically, the supply gutter is moved by dropping the ball from above against the wall 22 that partitions the two passages, and after the transition, the height is gradually increased to a height that exceeds the diameter of the ball. Since the flow direction is selected by the partition wall 22, the balls can be reliably distributed to either of the two passages, and the balls can flow smoothly without stagnation at this branch point.

The illustrated embodiment is an example developed specifically to easily put the present invention into practical use, and includes a mounting board 16 and a cover 17 as a main body, and a guide plate 5 and a partition wall 22 of a supply gutter 7 disposed in the middle. bottom plate 19,
Then, the ball leveling 26 is molded separately from synthetic resin, and at the same time, the shaft 12 for bearing the guide plate, the pin 15, and the shafts 24 to which the bottom plate 19 is attached are attached to the mounting board in advance, and the ball leveling By providing a shaft 27 for pivoting the 26, a mounting boss 28 for fixing the cover 17, etc., and assembling these parts in the relationship shown in FIG. It has been designed so that it can be manufactured and implemented.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawing shows one embodiment of the device of the present invention.
Figure 1 is a partially sectional front view in use, Figure 2 is an enlarged front view of the main part with some parts cut out, Figure 3 is an enlarged plan view of the main part, and Figure 4 is the same as the above figure. 5 is an enlarged exploded slope view of the main part. 4... Prize ball storage tank, 5... Guidance plate, 6...
... Outlet, 7... Supply gutter, 8... Prize ball guideway, 9
... Prize ball device, 19 ... Bottom plate of supply gutter, 22 ...
Partition wall, 22a...Upstream end of the partition wall.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A guide plate with a downward slope is installed horizontally just below the outlet of the prize ball storage tank, and at the downstream end of this guide plate, there are two passages with a partition wall inside which communicate with the prize ball guide path of the prize ball device. The upper surface of the downstream end of the guide plate is kept higher than the upper surface of the upstream end of the supply gutter to provide a step, and the upstream end of the partition wall facing the upstream end of the supply gutter is connected to a pachinko machine. It is formed to be lower than the diameter of a single ball, and the height gradually increases from the upstream end to the downstream end to form a curved upward shape, with a height that exceeds the diameter of a pachinko ball in the middle of the length. An alignment device for a prize ball supply gutter in a pachinko machine featuring the following.