JPH04272782A - Ball lending device for pinball machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To quickly execute the elimination of a foreign matter or the change for a new article by removing a gate member even if the foreign matter is put in for the purpose of mischief by providing a freely attachable/detachable gate member on an opening part for inserting or discharging a change medium. CONSTITUTION:To the front plate 5 of a pinball machine P, a resin cover 9 on which the upper ball pan 6 for collecting pinballs, and an input/output unit 8 being component parts of a ball coin device 7 are formed integrally is attached. A card reader 13 of the input/output unit 8 is contained entirely in the resin cover 9, and an opening part 17 where a prepaid card goes in and out is opposed to a slit 18 of the resin cover 9. In the opening part 17, a gate member 19 is provided so as to be freely attachable and detachable, and it is like a horizontally flat square cylinder fitted to the slit 18 of the resin cover 9, and fixed to the resin cover 9 with screws 20, 20 so as to be detachable. Also, the inner part end communicates directly with the opening part 17 of the card reader 13, and the front end protrudes to the outside of the resin cover 9.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

[Industrial Application Field] The present invention is applicable to prepaid cards and
This invention relates to a ball rental device that accepts exchange media such as C cards and provides rental balls to players.

0002

[Prior Art] Current ball lending devices can be roughly divided into two types: cash-in type that uses coins or banknotes as an exchange medium for renting balls, and prepaid card type that uses a prepaid magnetic card as an exchange medium for renting balls. There are seeds. A prepaid card type ball rental device will be explained below as an example. This prepaid card type ball rental device includes a card reader that reads and writes amount information on the prepaid card, a control device that controls the card reader, and a rental ball that releases balls based on instructions from the control device. It consists of a ball ejector, etc. The card reader is provided with an opening for inserting the prepaid card, and when the player inserts the prepaid card into the opening, a built-in motor is activated to draw the prepaid card into the card reader. Furthermore, when the player presses the return button and inputs a return command, the built-in motor rotates in reverse, and this time the prepaid card is ejected from the opening.

0003

[Problem to be solved by the invention] In a pachinko game parlor,
There is no end to malicious pranks committed by players who have lost the game. As prepaid card-type ball lending devices become more widespread in the future, firstly, the opening in the ball lending device is an entrance for prepaid cards, etc., and is located in a position that is easily visible to players. Second, blocking the opening of the ball lending device will have a large impact on the gaming area and other players;
For these reasons, there is a high possibility that they will be targeted by the above-mentioned mischievous acts. In other words, the opening of the ball lending device becomes clogged with foreign objects such as cigarette butts, gum, and paper scraps. If the opening of the ball lending device is filled with foreign matter in this way, it is not easy to remove the foreign matter from the outside of the card reader, so the card reader must be disassembled to remove the foreign matter. Otherwise, it will take a considerable amount of time to recover the ball lending device, or if a foreign object is strongly stuck to the opening with adhesive, serious damage may occur such as having to replace the entire card reader. .

0004

[Means for Solving the Problems] Therefore, the present invention provides a ball rental device 7 that accepts exchange media such as prepaid cards and IC cards and provides rental balls to players, in which the exchange medium is inserted or ejected. A ball lending device 7 for a pachinko machine P is provided in which a removable gate member 19 is provided in an opening 17.

[0005]

[Operation] A player inserts a prepaid card or the like into the ball rental device 7 via the gate member 19. Even if a player tries to block the entrance of a prepaid card or the like with a foreign object for the purpose of playing a prank, in most cases the foreign object gets stuck in the gate member 19 and stops. In such a case, gate member 1 clogged with foreign matter
9 from the ball lending device 7 and taking necessary measures such as removing foreign matter or replacing it with a new one, the ball lending device 7 can be quickly recovered and no damage will be caused to the ball lending device 7 itself. .

[0006]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Examples of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The pachinko machines include a built-in ball lending device type in which all the components of the ball lending device 7, which will be described later, are integrated, and a pachinko machine in which the main components of the ball lending device are integrated into an inter-machine ball lending machine (not shown). There is also a type that can be used with inter-table ball rental machines. Although the present invention can be applied to either of them, the former pachinko machine with a built-in ball rental device will be explained here.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a pachinko machine P, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a main part showing a gate member 19, which will be described later. The pachinko machine P has a rectangular outer frame 1 and a front frame 2 hinged to one side of the outer frame 1 so as to be openable and closable. A window hole 3 is opened in the front frame 2, and a window hole 3 is opened so as to close the window hole 3.
A glass door frame 4 is attached to the top and a front plate 5 is attached to the bottom so that they can be opened and closed. The front plate 5 includes an upper ball tray 6 for storing pachinko balls, and an input/output unit 8 which is a component of the ball lending device 7.
A resin cover 9 is attached which is integrated with the above. On the other hand, a game board 10 is attached to the back surface of the front frame 2.

The ball rental device 7 includes an input/output unit 8 provided on the front plate 5, a control device 11 provided on a mechanism plate (not shown) superimposed on the back surface of the game board 10, and the control device It consists of a rental ball discharging machine 12 etc. controlled by 11.

The input/output unit 8 includes, on the resin cover 9, a card reader 13 for reading and writing amount information on the prepaid card, a ball rental button 14 for inputting a ball rental command into the control device 11, and a prepaid card reader 13 for reading and writing amount information on the prepaid card. It incorporates a return button 15 for keying in a return command, a balance display section 16 for digitally displaying the balance of the prepaid card, and the like.

[0010] The ball rental machine 12 has a servo motor 12a.
When the ball is rotated, a number (for example, 25) of rental balls are released corresponding to one input of the rental ball button 14, and the operation is controlled by the control device 11. Note that various forms of this rental ball discharging machine 12 can be considered. For example, pachinko machine P
In the case where it is used also as a prize ball ejecting device (not shown) to eject rental balls into the upper ball tray 6, it is formed as a separate part from the prize ball ejecting device and installed side by side with the prize ball ejecting device. There are cases where it is done. Furthermore, the drive source for ejecting the rental ball is not limited to the servo motor 12a, but may be a solenoid or the like.

[0011] The card reader 13 is connected to the control device 11.
It is electrically connected to and operates under the control of the control device 11. This card reader 13 is completely built into the resin cover 9, and an opening 17 through which a prepaid card enters and exits is opposed to a slit 18 of the resin cover 9.

[0012] Therefore, the opening 1 of the card reader 13
7 is provided with a gate member 19 which is detachably attached. That is, the gate member 19 is inserted into the slit 1 of the resin cover 9.
It has a horizontally flat rectangular tube shape that fits into the resin cover 9 and is removably fixed to the resin cover 9 with screws 20, 20. The rear end communicates with the opening 17 of the card reader 13, and the front end projects outside the resin cover 9. Note that in this embodiment, in order to simplify the explanation, the screws 20, 20 are passed through the front side of the resin cover 9 to expose their screw heads to the outside, but in this case, there is a risk that the player may remove the gate member 19. There is. To prevent this, screw 2
0 and 20 from inside the resin cover 9 so that the screw heads are not exposed to the outside. Further, in this embodiment, the gate member 19 is fitted into the slit 18 of the resin cover 9, but the card reader 13
Alternatively, the gate member 19 may be directly fitted into the opening 17. Furthermore, the means for removably attaching is the screw 2.
In addition to 0.0 and 20.0, various other methods such as engagement using elastic claws can be considered.

Next, the operation of the ball lending device 7 will be outlined.

First, the player inserts a prepaid card into the card reader 13 of the input/output unit 8 through the gate member 19. The card reader 13 reads the amount information of the prepaid card and transmits it to the control device 11. Then, the amount information of the prepaid card is output from the control device 11 and digitally displayed on the remaining amount display section 16. Then, when the player inputs a key input on the rental ball button 14 within the amount of money in hand, the control device 11 receives the key input and rotates the servo motor 12a of the rental ball dispensing machine 12, thereby depositing the rental ball into the upper ball tray 6. discharge.

Now, if an unscrupulous player stuffs foreign objects such as cigarette butts, gum, or paper scraps into the gate member 19 in order to obstruct the insertion and removal of prepaid cards,
First, remove the screws 20, 20 and remove the gate member 19 from the resin cover 9. In many cases, the foreign object is the gate member 19
It can be easily removed by pushing it out from behind with the tip of a sharp tool such as a screwdriver. Further, even if a foreign object reaches the opening 17 of the card reader 13 and is caught, the tip of the foreign object is exposed to the outside by removing the gate member 19, so that it can be easily removed by grasping the tip. After removing the foreign matter in this way, the gate member 19 is attached to the screw 20.
, 20, the ball lending device 7 becomes usable. on the other hand,
If the foreign object is something like gum or is firmly fixed with adhesive or the like and cannot be easily removed, replace it with a new gate member 19.

It should be noted that if the present invention is provided with the following foreign matter detection means, the above-mentioned foreign matter removal process can be performed even more quickly. In other words, the path through which foreign matter enters (the gate member 19
In addition to installing a foreign object detection sensor such as a microswitch in the middle of the
3 start switches are provided. The relationship between the foreign object detection sensor and the start switch is that if the start switch operates within a certain period of time (for example, 2 to 3 seconds) after the foreign object detection sensor's detection signal is generated, it is determined to be normal, and after the foreign object detection sensor's detection signal is generated, the start switch is determined to be normal. If the start switch does not operate even after the above-mentioned period of time has elapsed, it is determined that a foreign object has entered the game, and the game hall manager is notified of the abnormality of the card reader 13.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above,
Of course, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, in the embodiment, a pachinko machine with a built-in ball rental device in which the card reader 13 and the like are incorporated in the pachinko machine P side has been described, but the invention can be similarly applied to a case where the card reader of the ball rental device is incorporated in an inter-machine ball rental machine. Furthermore, the exchange medium for renting balls is not limited to the prepaid card shown in the embodiment, but may be any other medium such as an IC card, coins, or banknotes. Further, the present invention is applicable not only to the ball lending device 7 but also to any device that uses an exchange medium, such as various vending machines.

[0018]

[Effects of the Invention] Since the ball rental device 7 of the present invention is constructed as described above, even if a player tries to block the entrance of a prepaid card or the like with a foreign object for the purpose of mischief, in most cases the foreign object will be removed. It gets stuck in the gate member 19 and stops. Since the gate member 19 clogged with foreign matter can be removed from the ball lending device 7 and the foreign matter can be easily removed, the ball lending device 7 can be quickly recovered. Further, even if sticky foreign matter such as gum is stuffed, only the gate member 19 needs to be replaced with a new one, and there is an effect that the expensive card reader 13 of the ball lending device 7 itself will not be damaged.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a pachinko machine.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of essential parts of the gate member.

[Explanation of symbols]

P...Pachinko machine 7...Ball rental device 17...Opening 19...Gate member

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A ball lending device that accepts exchange media such as prepaid cards and IC cards and provides rental balls to players, wherein a removable gate member is provided at an opening through which the exchange medium is inserted or ejected. A ball rental device for a pachinko machine, which is characterized by: