JPH04279186A - Operating lever-fixing device in electrically operated projecting apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an operating lever-fixing device in an electrically operated projecting apparatus capable of accurately determining the fixing position of the operating lever. CONSTITUTION:While the rotational position of the rotational lever 24 of an operating lever 20 is held, the whole operating lever 20 is forced rearward against the energizing force of a fixed spring 52 and an engaging groove 27 formed in the rotating shaft 25 and the detent pawl 43 of a detent member 42 are caused to engage with each other so that the rotational lever 24 is fixed in a desired position and the rear end of the detent member 42 is biased by a release solenoid 49 excited at the end of a game to release the engaging state of the engaging groove 27 and the detent pawl 43 to release the fixed state of the rotational lever 24. Therefore, when the rotational lever 24 is rotated and then only forced in, the operating lever 20 can be fixed in an accurate position.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an operating handle fixing device for an electric firing device that adjusts the rebound force of a ball by rotating the operating handle.

0002

[Prior Art] In an electric firing device that adjusts the rebound force of a batted ball by rotating an operating handle, a player must constantly rotate the rotating lever of the operating handle in order to maintain the rebound force of a batted ball at a desired strength. It was necessary to hold it in a certain rotational position. For this reason, when players play games for a long time, their wrists get tired, so the rotating lever is fixed with a match shaft or a coin, but if these actions are allowed, the match shaft becomes There has been a problem in that coins can get into the inside of the operating handle and prevent the rotary lever from rotating, or the synthetic resin operating handle can be broken by coins, making it impossible to use the operating handle. In order to solve this problem, various operating handle fixing devices have been proposed that electrically or mechanically fix the rotary lever of the operating handle at a desired position.

0003

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Most of the above-mentioned operating handle fixing devices operate the fixing device with the fingers of the hand holding the rotating lever of the operating handle, or the rotating lever is operated by the finger of the hand holding the rotating lever. Since it is necessary to operate the fixing device using a hand other than the hand that is holding it, when operating the fixing device, it is difficult to rotate the rotation lever that is held at the desired position. There was a problem that it would shift slightly. The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an operating handle fixing device for an electric firing device that can accurately determine the fixing position of the operating handle.

0004

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, an operating handle fixing device according to the present invention provides an electric firing device that adjusts the rebound force of a batted ball by rotating the operating handle. An engagement groove is formed on a rotating shaft fixed to a rotating lever that adjusts the amount of rotation of the operating handle, and the operating handle is provided so as to be slidable in the front-back direction via a fixed spring that biases the entire operating handle forward. At the rear of the operating handle, there is a groove that contacts the outer circumference of the rotating shaft when the operating handle is in the front, and engages with the engagement groove when the operating handle is pressed against the biasing force of the fixed spring. disposing a locking member having a locking pawl, and driving the locking member so as to release the engagement state between the locking pawl and the engagement groove when a certain period of time has elapsed after the end of the game; It is characterized by the arrangement of a solenoid.

[0005]

[Operation] After rotating the rotary lever of the operating handle to a desired position, the entire operating handle is pushed backwards against the biasing force of the fixed spring while maintaining the rotating position of the rotating lever. Then, the engagement groove formed in the rotating shaft and the locking pawl of the locking member engage with each other. When the engagement groove and the locking pawl engage, a frictional force acts between the engagement groove and the locking pawl due to the biasing force of the fixed spring that tends to bias the operating handle forward.
Fix the rotating shaft in that position. This allows the rotary lever to be fixed at a desired position. Furthermore, when a certain period of time has elapsed after the end of the game, the release solenoid is driven to release the engagement between the locking pawl of the locking member and the engagement groove. This returns the rotary lever to its original position, allowing the next player to adjust the position from the beginning to obtain his or her desired spring force.

[0006]

Embodiments Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. First, the configuration of the pachinko machine 1 to which the operating handle fixing device according to the embodiment is applied will be described with reference to FIG. 7. In the figure, a frame-shaped front frame 3 is pivotally supported on a machine frame 2 of a pachinko machine 1 so as to be openable and closable. A metal frame 4 is provided around the frame-shaped opening of the front frame 3.
A glass door frame 5 is provided so as to be openable and closable. A game board 6 is provided behind the glass door frame 5, on which various winning ports, winning devices, etc. are arranged. Further, a front door plate 7 is provided below the glass door frame 5, and on the surface of the front door plate 7, ejected prize balls and game balls borrowed from a ball lending machine are stored and fired as batted balls. An upper tray 8 is fixed to the position. The batted ball supplied from this upper plate 8 is transmitted to the front door plate 7.
The balls are supplied one by one to the firing position by a hit ball supply device 10 (described in detail later) which is fixed to one side of the lower part of the game board 6 on the back side of the game board. In addition, the front door plate 7
It is also provided so that it can be opened and closed freely.

A lower tray 9 is provided below the front door plate 7 and on the lower front side of the front frame 3 for storing overflowing prize balls when the upper tray 8 is full of prize balls. On the side of the lower plate 9 is an operation handle 20 that constitutes the main part of this embodiment.
is provided. The lower plate 9 includes a decorative support plate 21 which will be described later.
The decorative support plate 21 extends directly to the operating handle 20 side, and an insertion hole 2 is provided to slidably guide the operating handle 20 as described later.
2 is formed.

By the way, the hit ball supply device 10 disposed on the back side of the front door plate 7 will be explained with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. The batted ball has a batted ball inlet 11 that receives batted balls flowing down in a row, and a batted ball outlet 12 facing immediately in front of a firing position (not shown) at the downstream end thereof, and is formed to connect the batted ball inlet 11 and the batted ball outlet 12. The middle of the passage 13 is formed into a stepped shape. Immediately in front of the ball outlet 12, a swing member 14 is provided that swings vertically in conjunction with the reciprocating motion of a ball rod 32 of a ball launcher 30, which will be described later. A ball receiving portion 14a that receives one batted ball is formed on the side of the swinging member 14 that faces the ball hitting path 13, and when the swinging member 14 moves upward, the ball that flows down from the ball hitting path 13 is collected. The ball is received in a receiving part 14a, and when the swinging member 14 moves downward, the ball receiving part 14a descends while receiving the ball and drops the ball from a ball outlet 12 toward a firing position.

A proximity switch 15 is provided at the bottom of the upstream end of the ball hitting passage 13 to detect whether or not a ball is flowing in from the ball entrance 11. That is, the proximity switch 15 detects whether there is a ball to be fired. Therefore, a certain period of time (for example, 30 seconds to 1 minute) after the proximity switch 15 no longer detects a batted ball.
When the time has elapsed, a release solenoid 49, which will be described later, is energized. In addition, a stopper piece 16 connected to a link member 17 is provided immediately in front of the ball hitting inlet 11, and when there is a shortage of prize balls to be discharged into a prize ball tank (not shown), the link member 17 is driven to stop the stopper piece 16. The batting ball entrance 11 is blocked by the ball opening 11. In addition,
The stopper piece 16 may be configured to protrude and retract on the downstream side of the proximity switch 15. With this configuration, even if the stopper piece 16 is activated due to a shortage of prize balls, the proximity switch 15 detects the presence of a ball to be fired, so the release solenoid 49 is activated even after a certain period of time has elapsed. This is because there is no need to adjust the hitting force again.

Next, referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, the operation handle 20 and the operation handle fixing device, which constitute the main parts of this embodiment, will be explained. As shown in FIG. 3, the operation handle 20 includes a grip member 23 that is held by the player's hand.
, a rotating lever 24 provided at the center of the gripping member 23 so as to be rotatable with respect to the gripping member 23, and a rotating shaft 25 fixed to the rotating lever 24 and extending rearward. . The gripping member 23 is divided into front and rear parts by a rotating lever 24, and the base of the gripping member 23 at the rear thereof is inserted into the insertion hole 2 formed at one end of the decorative support plate 21.
A cylindrical insertion tube portion 23a is inserted into the tube 2. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, this insertion tube portion 23a is inserted into a space formed between the insertion hole 22 and a support tube 39, which will be described later, and is slidable in the front-rear direction. ing. However, although not shown in detail in the drawing,
The insertion tube portion 23a is inserted into the insertion hole 22 so as to be in a predetermined positional relationship such that it cannot rotate. Therefore, even though the insertion tube portion 23a is slidable in the front-rear direction, it is not rotatable with respect to the insertion hole 22 or the support tube 39. Therefore, the operation handle 20 can only be rotated by rotation. Lever 24 and rotating shaft 25 fixed to it
Only.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, an engagement gear 26 is fixed to the rotating shaft 25 at the front of the center thereof, and an engagement groove 27 is formed at the center thereof. Engagement gear 2
6 is formed in a fan shape, and when the operating handle 20 is inserted into the insertion hole 22, it meshes with a rotating gear 38, which will be described later. However, when the operating handle 20 is in the forward position, the overlapping ratio of the meshing is small, as shown in FIG. 2, and when the operating handle 20 is in the rear position, the overlapping ratio of the meshing is high, as shown in FIG. . However, regardless of the position, the rotating shaft 25
When rotated, the rotational motion is transmitted to the rotating gear 38. The engaging groove 27 is adapted to engage with a locking pawl 43 formed at the front end of a locking member 42, which will be described later. In the illustrated embodiment, the engaging groove 27 is formed as a groove having a V-shaped cross section. There is. Further, it is desirable that the surface roughness of the locking pawl 43 and the engaging groove 27 be finished so that when the locking pawl 43 and the engaging groove 27 are engaged, a moderate frictional force acts on each other.

Operation handle 20 configured as described above
A ball launcher 30 is fixed to the back surface of the front frame 3 so as to face the front frame 3. As shown in FIG. 3, the ball launcher 30 is installed on a rectangular mounting base plate 31, and has a ball rod 32 and a ball rod 3 on the rear surface of which the ball is fired.
A drive motor 33 and the like that provide reciprocating motion to the motor 2 are provided. Further, on the front surface of the mounting board 31, a pulley 35 is fixed to the ball-striking rod shaft 34 of the ball-striking rod 32, and one end of an elastic spring 36 is locked to the outer periphery of the pulley 35, and the elastic spring 36 is It is surrounded. One end of a connecting cable 37 is connected to the other end of the resilient spring 36, and the other end of the connecting cable 37 is connected to a pulley (not shown) fixed to the rotating shaft of a rotating gear 38. The rotary gear 38 is provided at a position adjacent to a support tube 39 protruding from the front side of the mounting board 31 to guide the sliding movement of the insertion tube portion 23a of the operating handle 20. A part thereof faces the inside of the support tube 39.

A rotary shaft sleeve 40 through which the rotary shaft 25 is supported is formed at the center of the support sleeve 39 protruding from the front side of the mounting board 31.
A space into which the engagement gear 26 can enter is formed at the upper front surface between the support tube 39 and the support tube 39, and the rotation gear 38 faces one side of the space.

On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a through hole 41 is bored in the middle upper part of the rotary bearing cylinder 40, and a lock formed at the tip of a locking member 42 is inserted into the through hole 41. Stopper claw 43
is beginning to invade. The locking member 42 is rotatably supported by a support shaft 44 in the upper space of the rotary bearing sleeve 40, and the locking claw 43 always enters the through hole 41 by a biasing spring 45 to prevent rotation. It is biased in the direction of contacting the outer periphery of the shaft 25. Therefore, when the entire operation handle 20 is pressed and the engagement groove 27 formed in the rotating shaft 25 and the through hole 41 match, the locking pawl 4
3 enters into the engagement groove 27 and holds the entire operation handle 20 in the retracted position. On the other hand, the locking member 42
At the rear end, a roller 47 is provided at the lower end of the vertical rod 46.
are in contact with each other. The vertical rod 46 protrudes to the outside of the support tube 39, and has an abutment portion 48 provided at its upper end.

A release solenoid 49 fixed to the back surface of the decorative support plate 21 is disposed above the vertical rod 46. As shown in FIG. 1, the release solenoid 49 is normally in a position where the plunger 50 is raised by a spring 51, and when the release solenoid 49 is energized, the plunger 50 descends and presses the contact portion 48. Then, the vertical rod 46 is lowered. When the vertical rod 46 is pressed by the release solenoid 49, the locking member 42 rotates against the biasing force of the biasing spring 45, as shown in FIG. Release the engagement.

By the way, a fixed spring 52 is interposed between the support tube 39 and the operating handle 20. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the fixing spring 52 is inserted along the inner surface of the insertion cylinder part 23a of the gripping member 23, and the insertion cylinder part 23a of the operating handle 20 is inserted between the insertion hole 22 and the support cylinder 39. When inserted into the space, a fixed spring 52 is attached to the front end periphery of the support tube 39.
comes into contact. In addition, in this state, the rear end of the rotating shaft 25 protrudes from the back surface of the mounting board 31 of the batted ball launcher 30,
By fixing the protruding portion with a fixing member 53, the operating handle 20 cannot be pulled out forward.

The operating handle 20 configured as described above
The operation will be explained with reference to FIGS. 1, 2, and 6. Before starting the game, the state is as shown in FIG. 2. When the player wants to start the game, he rotates the rotation lever 24 of the operating handle 20, and the drive motor 33 of the ball launcher 30 starts rotating, causing the ball rod 32 to rotate back and forth. . On the other hand, since the engaging gear 26 fixed to the rotating shaft 25 of the rotating lever 24 also rotates, the rotating gear 38 that meshes with it also rotates, and the connecting cable 37
and pulls the resilient spring 36. The amount of traction of the spring 36 is proportional to the amount of rotation of the rotary lever 24, but the return force of the ball hitting rod 32 varies depending on the amount of traction of the spring 36, and this adjusts the spring force. Ru.

When the rotary lever 24 is rotated to a position where the player obtains the desired spring force, the operating handle 20 is moved backward against the biasing force of the fixed spring 52 while maintaining that position. Push it in. Then, as shown in FIG. 1, the entire operation handle 20 moves rearward while the engagement gear 26 and the rotating gear 38 remain engaged, and the engagement groove 27 engages with the engagement pawl 43 of the engagement member 42. engage. Even if you release your hand from the rotary lever 24 in this state, the entire operation handle 20 including the rotary lever 24 is biased forward by the biasing force of the fixed spring 52, so that the engagement groove 27 and the locking pawl 43 The rotating shaft 25 is held in that position by the frictional force between them. In other words, the rotary lever 24 is fixed at a desired position, and the ball is fired with a substantially constant spring force. As described above, in this embodiment, the operation handle 2 is rotated while the rotary lever 24 is held at the desired position.
Since the rotational position of the rotary lever 24 can be maintained simply by pushing in the entire rotation lever 24, the fixing operation is completed without drawing attention to other fixing devices, and the rotation lever 24
The position will not deviate from the desired position.

By the way, when the once fixed position of the rotary lever 24 is different from the desired position, it is necessary to fix it again, but this can be done without energizing the release solenoid 49. That is, since the engagement groove 27 is formed with a V-shaped cross section, the locking pawl 43 can be moved along the inclined surface of the engagement groove 27 by, for example, pulling the operating handle 20 forward with a slight force. and finally,
The engaged state is released. Then, after rotating the rotary lever 24 to the desired position again in the released state, the operating handle 20 is pushed in to engage the engagement groove 27 and the locking pawl 43 again, thereby fixing the rotary lever 24. can do.

With the rotary lever 24 fixed as described above, the batted balls stored in the upper tray 8 are sequentially sent to the firing position by the batted ball supply device 10, and are delivered to the desired position by the batting rod 32 of the batted ball firing device 30. It is fired with explosive force. When the number of batted balls stored in the upper tray 8 decreases and the proximity switch 15 provided at the upstream end of the batted ball supply device 10 no longer detects a batted ball, the signal is sent to the input circuit 60 as shown in FIG. The signal is sent to the latch circuit 61 via the latch circuit 61 and drives the timer circuit 62. Then, when a certain period of time set in the timer circuit 62 has elapsed, the time-up signal resets the latch circuit 61 and the triac circuit 63 (switching circuit for stopping the drive motor 33), and the DC pulse 64 is input to generate a pulse signal. Then, the pulse signal is given to the solenoid output circuit 65 to turn on the release solenoid 49.
do. When the release solenoid 49 is turned on, the vertical rod 46 is pressed to swing the locking member 42 and release the engagement between the locking pawl 43 and the engagement groove 27 .

When the engagement between the locking pawl 43 and the engagement groove 27 is released, the operating handle 20 is pushed back forward by the biasing force of the fixed spring 52, and at the same time, the biasing force of the resilient spring 36 As a result, the rotating shaft 25 is rotated toward the original position by the connecting cable 37, the rotating gear 38, and the engaging gear 26, and the rotating lever 24 is returned to its original position. Therefore, even if the player ends the game with the rotating lever 24 fixed,
Since the rotary lever 24 automatically returns to its original position, the next player can adjust the position from the beginning to obtain his or her desired spring force. Note that the time set in the timer circuit 62 may be at least longer than the time required to fire the batted balls remaining in the batted ball passage 13 of the batted ball supply device 10, but if it is set too short, the balls may jam in the upper tray 8. If it occurs and you notice it too late, the fixed state will be released, so it will take a long time.

The fixing device for the operating handle 20 according to the embodiment has been described above, but in the above embodiment, the end of the game is determined by detecting the presence or absence of a batted ball using the proximity switch 15 provided in the batted ball supply device 10. However, the end of the game may be determined by other methods, for example, by a sensor that detects that there is no player in front of the Pachinko machine 1.

[0023]

[Effects of the Invention] As is clear from the above explanation, in the present invention, the entire operating handle is pushed backward against the biasing force of the fixed spring while maintaining the rotational position of the rotating lever of the operating handle. As a result, the engagement groove formed on the rotating shaft is configured to engage with the locking pawl of the locking member, so when the engaging groove and the locking pawl are engaged, the operation of the fixed spring is prevented. A frictional force acts between the engagement groove and the locking pawl due to the biasing force that tends to bias the handle forward, making it possible to fix the rotating shaft in that position.This allows the rotating lever to be moved to the desired position. Can be fixed. Also,
After a certain period of time has passed after the end of the game, the release solenoid is driven to release the engagement between the locking pawl of the locking member and the engagement groove, and the rotary lever returns to its original position. , you can adjust it from the beginning to the position that gives you the rebound force you desire.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a state in which an operating handle according to an embodiment is in a rear position.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a state in which the operating handle according to the embodiment is in a forward position.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing the relationship between the operating handle and the ball launcher.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the relationship between the upper tray and the batted ball supply device.

FIG. 5 is a front view of the batted ball supply device.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an electrical operation for releasing the fixed state of the operating handle.

FIG. 7 is a front perspective view of a pachinko machine to which the operating handle fixing device according to the embodiment is applied.

[Explanation of symbols]

20 Operation handle 24 Rotating lever 25 Rotation axis 27 Engagement groove 42 Locking member 43 Locking claw 49 Release solenoid 52 Fixed spring

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An electric firing device that adjusts the rebound force of a batted ball by rotating an operating handle, wherein an engagement groove is formed in a rotating shaft fixed to a rotating lever that adjusts the amount of rotation of the operating handle; The operating handle is provided so as to be slidable in the front and back direction via a fixed spring that biases the entire operating handle forward, and on the other hand, the operating handle is provided at the rear so as to be in contact with the outer periphery of the rotating shaft when the operating handle is in the forward direction. , disposing a locking member having a locking pawl that engages with the engagement groove when the operating handle is pressed against the biasing force of the fixed spring, and when a certain period of time has elapsed after the end of the game; An operating handle fixing device for an electric firing device, characterized in that a release solenoid is disposed to drive the locking member so as to release the engagement between the locking pawl and the engagement groove.