JPH0524396Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a ball lending machine, for example, a ball lending machine used to supply a predetermined number of pachinko balls.

(Prior Art) As is well known, in a pachinko game hall, a plurality of pachinko machines are lined up back to back to form one island, and a plurality of islands are provided. Each island is equipped with a thin inter-machine ball lending machine for renting out balls, one for each of the plurality of pachinko machines. The thin ball lending machine is usually provided between adjacent pachinko machines. Therefore, this thin ball lending machine is referred to here as an inter-dai ball lending machine.

Conventional inter-machine ball lending machines are designed so that when coins or magnetic cards are inserted into one predetermined slot, the corresponding number of balls is counted by an internal constant supply mechanism and dropped into the slot. . (For example, JP-A-62-
(Refer to Publication No. 268581).

(Problem to be solved by the invention) However, in the conventional inter-machine machine,
Since the insertion slot for coins and magnetic cards is only provided in one place on the front, the player must stand in front of the thin ball lending machine to insert coins or cards into the slot, and the balls between the machines cannot be inserted. The drawback was that it was difficult to use for people who played games on the pachinko machines on either side of the rental machine.

In addition, if the magnetic card ejected into the card insertion slot of the inter-machine machine is forgotten and left unattended, it is difficult to determine which card belongs to the left or right player.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a card insertion section that has a dedicated card insertion slot so that it can be used easily from the left and right sides, and that also allows for clear identification of the card owner. The object of the invention is to provide a card-type ball lending machine equipped with the above-mentioned card insertion slot.

(Means for Solving the Problems) According to the present invention, in the card insertion slot for guiding the insertion and removal of the card on which information is recorded,
first and second card insertion slots into which a card can be inserted; and a card inserted into one of the first and second card insertion slots closes the other card insertion slot. a switching type flapper that is moved by a switch; a detection device that determines whether a card is inserted into either of the first and second card insertion slots; A card insertion slot section is obtained that includes a lock device that locks switching of the flapper so that the other card insertion slot remains closed while a card is inserted into the insertion slot.

Further, according to the present invention, a card-type ball lending machine equipped with the above-mentioned card insertion slot can be obtained.

(Function) In the card insertion slot of the present invention, when a card is inserted into one card insertion slot, the card moves the flapper and closes the other card insertion slot. At the same time, the insertion of the card is detected by the detection device. A locking device then locks the switching of the flapper. As a result, the flapper is fixed with the other card insertion slot reliably closed.

Furthermore, according to the card-type ball lending machine of the present invention, only the card inserted into one of the card slots is supplied to the card reader, and even if a card is attempted to be inserted into the other card slot, it is blocked by the flapper. That will happen.

(Embodiment) FIG. 1 shows a card-type ball lending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention together with two cards. Referring to FIG. 1, the ball lending machine 1 of this embodiment includes a front panel 3. As shown in FIG. The front panel 3 is provided with a lamp display section 4 at the top, and below it is a balance display section 6 that displays the balance of card A (or card B), and a first section into which card A (or card B) is inserted. A card insertion slot 9 having a card insertion slot 7 and a second card insertion slot 8, and an inserted card A (or B)
A plurality of selection switches 11 (buttons) are provided with arbitrary price settings such as 100 yen, 200 yen, 300 yen, 400 yen, or 500 yen.

The lamp display section 4 shows an out-of-ball indicator lamp and a card A (or card B) with no registration number or balance.
Two display lamps are provided, one indicating that the card is fraudulent when attempting to rent a ball. The card insertion slot 9 is located on the front panel 3.
It is fitted and attached to the opening of the Of course,
It may be inserted directly into the card reader main body (not shown) and fitted into the opening from the inside of the front panel 3 so as to protrude outside.

An illuminated switch is used as the selection switch 11, and the balance of the inserted card is displayed by lighting up. By this, the selection switch 11 determines the number of balls that can be lent and the customer (player).
It is also used for selecting the desired number of rental balls.

As the selection switch 11, instead of the illuminated type,
A segment display for displaying the input amount may be provided, as well as numeric keys for selecting the number of balls to be paid. Note that if the amount of balls to be paid is to be released by the amount remaining on the inserted card (that is, if the amount of balls to be paid cannot be selected), the selection switch is not necessary.

The lower part of the front panel 3 is provided with a ball rental outlet 13 from which balls are released when the elevating part 12 is pushed up by hand, as in the conventional case. Of course, the above-described ball lending machine 1 includes a card reader that reads the registration number of the card A (or B) inserted into the first or second insertion slot 7 or 8.

This ball rental machine 1 is installed between pachinko machines 17 on a pachinko island 16, as shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 shows the card insertion slot 9 in an exploded state. This card insertion slot portion 9 includes a card insertion slot main body 21 that fits into an opening formed in the front panel 3 of the ball lending machine 1, and an insertion slot front plate 22 that fits into the front opening of this insertion slot main body 21. Contains. When the insertion opening front plate 22 is fitted to the insertion opening main body 21, the above-mentioned first and second insertion openings 7 and 8 are formed on both sides of the insertion opening front plate 22.

A flapper 23 is arranged inside the insertion port main body 21. Flapper shafts 24 and 26 are integrally provided at the upper and lower parts of the flapper 23. These flapper shafts 24 and 26 are rotatably supported by the insertion port main body 21 and the insertion port front plate 22. Therefore, the flapper 23 can rotate around the flapper shafts 24 and 26 inside the insertion port main body 21.

A switch arm 27 is attached to the upper flap shaft 24.
or fixed. In order to detect rotation of the flapper 23, actuating plates of detection switches 28 and 29 are disposed on both sides of the switch arm 27 to face each other. These detection switches 28 and 29 are connected to the insertion port main body 2.
1 or the housing of the ball lending machine 1.

The locking arm 3 is attached to the lower flap shaft 26.
1 is fixed. This locking arm 31
An engaging pin 32 projecting downward is fixed to the. In order to limit the movement of this engagement pin 32,
A solenoid 33 is provided. solenoid 3
3 is driven according to the operation of detection switches 28 and 29, as will be described later. Plunger 34 of solenoid 33 is rotatably connected to link 37 by pin 36. The link 37 is rotatable about a support shaft 39 as a fulcrum. The return spring 41 is hooked between the fixed pin 42 and the link 37, and urges the link 37 in a direction opposite to the driving direction of the solenoid 33. An arm 44 is movably connected to the rotating end of the link 37 by a pin 43. In the connecting portion between the pin 43 and the arm 44, the hole in the locking piece 46 is an elongated hole in the direction perpendicular to the moving direction of the locking piece 46, thereby converting the arc movement of the pin 43 into a linear movement. The arm 44 is fixed to a locking piece 46 as a locking device. The locking piece 46 has an engagement protrusion 47 on the upper surface, and the guide groove 48 and the guide protrusion 49 act as guides at positions where the engagement protrusion 47 and the above-mentioned engagement pin 32 can engage or disengage. allows movement in a straight line. The engagement protrusion 47 is placed on the locus of movement of the engagement pin 32 during movement, and is therefore used to prevent rotation of the flapper 23 by engaging with the engagement pin 32. The solenoid 33, the support shaft 39, the return spring 41, and the fixing pin 42 are fixed to the housing of the ball lending machine 1 or the insertion port main body 21.

Furthermore, the flapper 23 is plate-shaped and has a plurality of protrusions 51 and 52 on the front end surface and the rear end surface, respectively. Further, a guide portion 54 having a plurality of recesses or grooves 53 corresponding one-to-one to the plurality of convex portions 51 of the flapper 23 is formed on the rear surface of the front end 22 of the insertion port. Both side surfaces of the guide portion 54 are inclined surfaces 56. On the other hand, the inner sides of both sides of the insertion port main body 21 are also formed into inclined surfaces 57. These inclined surfaces 57
As shown in FIG. 4, a plurality of recesses 58 are formed in each of the recesses 58 in one-to-one correspondence with the plurality of convex portions 52 of the flapper 23.

In FIG. 4, 61 is a rail inserted into the guide groove 48, and 62 is a guide plate that guides the guide protrusion 49.

Next, the operation of the ball lending machine will be explained with reference to FIG.

In the card insertion slot section in the standby state, the flapper 23 can move either to the right or to the left, as shown in FIG. 5a. That is, locking piece 4
6 is on the customer side (not shown, but to the right in FIG. 5A) due to the force of the return spring 41, and the engaging protrusion 47 is out of the trajectory of the pin 43.

For example, if card A is inserted into the first card insertion slot 7, the state shown in FIG.
The flapper 23 that is pushed rotates to the right when viewed from above. As a result, the switch arm 27 operates the left detection switch 28.

When the detection switch 28 operates, the solenoid 3
3 is energized, and moves the locking piece 46 in the direction of arrow F against the force of the return spring 41. As a result, the engagement protrusion 47 moves on the trajectory of the engagement pin 32 of the locking arm 31.

Therefore, the flapper 23 is locked in the state shown in FIG. 5b. In this state, the convex portions 51, 52 of the flapper 23 fit into the recesses 53, 58, so the card A is guided by the flapper 23 and smoothly guided on the inclined surfaces 56, 57 without being caught.
It is guided into the card reader through a guide path 64 by a feed roller (not shown) of the card reader.

As shown in FIG. 5c, when card B is inserted into the second card insertion slot 8, the right detection switch 2
9 operates, and card B is guided to the card reader in the same manner as described above.

However, while a card is being inserted into one card insertion slot, the other card insertion slot is continuously closed by the flapper 23, so insertion of the card is prohibited.

Next, when the card is ejected from the card reader to the outside via the guide path 64 of the card insertion slot 9,
The convex parts 51 and 52 of the flapper 23 are the concave parts 53 and 58
Fits in. As a result, the card is smoothly guided and ejected to the outside of the card insertion slot by a feed roller (not shown) of the card reader.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a card settlement system for a pachinko parlor using the above-mentioned card-type ball lending machine. In FIG. 6, a unique registration number assigned to the card A (or B) used in the card-type ball lending machine is stored. C stores data such as registration numbers and amounts in memory, and also has the function of inquiring data from the ball lending machine 72 and balance refund machine 73 and processing the data. This memory C is built into the card issuing machine 71, but is not limited thereto.

Referring also to FIG. 7, the case where balls are rented using the ball lending machine 2 will be described. At step S1, card A
(or B) into the first card insertion slot 7 (or the second
When the card is inserted into the card insertion slot 8), the solenoid 33 is energized in response to the operation of the left detection switch 28 (or the right detection switch 29), and the flapper 23 is fixed. Moving from step S1 to step S2, it is determined whether the card is a regular card or not. That is, it is determined whether the expiration date of the inserted card A (or B) or whether the card A (or B) is issued by the store. If the card is a regular card, the process moves to step S3, and memory C is inquired about the registration number and balance of card A (or B). However, it expires at step S2,
If it is determined that the card was issued by another store, the process moves to step S4 and the card is deemed to be fraudulent.
This fact is displayed on the ball lending machine, and the fraudulent card is returned to the customer.

Next, in step S5, a determination is made as to whether the card A (or B) has a registration number and a balance. If there is a registration number and balance here, step S6
, and stores the amount of ball rental requested by the customer in memory C.
Update to. Otherwise, move to step S7,
The card will be deemed to be fraudulent and a message to that effect will be displayed on the ball lending machine.
Return the fraudulent card to the customer.

In step S8, a question is asked as to whether the balance of the card A (or B) is "0", and if the balance is "0", the process moves to step S9, where the card A (or B) is taken into the system and the card is collected. A device (not shown) stores the card in a predetermined location. However, if the card A (or B) still has a balance, the process moves to step S10 and the card A (or B) is returned to the customer.

(Effects of the invention) As explained above, according to the invention, the card insertion slot has a dedicated card insertion slot for improved usability from the left and right sides, and also allows for clear identification of the card owner. Can provide mouth part.
Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an excellent card-type ball lending machine.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is an external perspective view of a 13-card ball lending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a front view of a pachinko island, and Fig. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a card insertion slot according to an embodiment of the present invention. 4 is a sectional view of FIG. 3, FIG. A block diagram showing the card settlement system of the pachinko parlor used, and FIG. 7 is also a flowchart. 1... Ball rental machine, 3... Front panel, 7... First card insertion slot, 8... Second card insertion slot,
9...Card insertion slot, 23...Flappa, 27
... Switch arm, 28, 29 ... Detection switch, 32 ... Engagement pin, 33 ... Solenoid, 4
6... Locking piece, 47... Engaging protrusion,
A, B...card.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim for Utility Model Registration] 1. In a card insertion slot for guiding the insertion and removal of a card on which information is recorded, first and second card insertion slots into which the above-mentioned card can be inserted; a switchable flapper that is moved by a card inserted into one of the card insertion slots to close the other card insertion slot; and one of the first and second card insertion slots. a detection device that determines whether a card is inserted into any of the card insertion slots;
and a locking device that locks switching of the flapper so that the other card insertion slot remains closed while a card is inserted into the one card insertion slot, in response to the output of the detection device. card insertion slot. 2. A card-type ball lending machine comprising the card insertion slot according to claim 1.