JPH0683748B2 - Pachinko ball counter - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a pachinko ball counter.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a pachinko ball counter for counting the number of replenished balls when replenishing the pachinko balls has been generally used.

A conventional pachinko ball counter of this kind generally counts the number of rotations of a counting wheel around which a recess is formed in which one pachinko ball can be fitted, or one of the counting wheels. The proximity switch or the like detects the swing of a rotation control member such as a cabana that swings each time the tooth rotates, and the signal is integrated to count.

[0004]

However, in the counter configured to count the number of rotations of the counting wheel, the number of pachinko balls thrown out by one rotation of the counting wheel becomes constant, so that any number of balls can be set. Cannot be detected. Further, even if there is a so-called ball dropout, in which a pachinko ball does not enter any one of the concave portions of the counting wheel, this is counted, and there is a drawback that an erroneous counting is likely to occur.

In a counter that counts by swinging the rotation control member, the switch must be turned on and off every swing of the rotation control member, so the switch used must have high performance. However, depending on how the rotation control member swings, the switch continues without turning on and off, and it is difficult to avoid erroneous counting.

On the other hand, in the pachinko ball counter using the counting wheel as described above, the counting wheel is locked to stop the flow of the pachinko balls, but the conventional locking means of the counting wheel is the tooth portion of the counting wheel. The engaging lock member is engaged by the force of a spring, and the engagement is released by a solenoid. Recently, pachinko balls are fast (4 per second
Since the counting wheel is rotated at a high speed, in order to stop it accurately, it is performed against the large inertia and the weight of the pachinko ball in the ball passage. Therefore, it is necessary to increase the spring force in order to securely lock the counting wheel. However, in this case, the pulling force of the solenoid for removing the solenoid must be increased, and a large solenoid is required.

In view of this, the present invention can eliminate the occurrence of erroneous counting even with a counter using a toothed wheel having the same shape as a conventional counting wheel, and can reliably stop the toothed wheel (pachinko ball). The present invention has been made for the purpose of providing a pachinko ball counter that can be released by a small capacity solenoid.

[0008]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention has a ball passage provided in the body and an engagement recess formed so that one pachinko ball can be fitted around the ball passage. A toothed wheel that is rotatably provided so as to face the ball passage, a sensor that counts pachinko balls that pass through the ball passage on the downstream side of the toothed wheel, and a rotation control member that controls the rotation of the toothed wheel. , A toothed wheel stopper provided so that the locking portion at one end engages with a projection on the rear side in the rotation direction of the engagement recess of the toothed wheel to stop its rotation, and the engagement of the toothed wheel stopper. One end of the stopper is slidably contacted with the back side of the stopper, and the stopper is provided so as to be swingable so as to be able to slide and escape from the back while maintaining a state in which the engaging portion is engaged with the protrusion of the engaging recess. And pulling the stopper lock member to retract one end of the lock member from the rear surface of the locking portion. A pachinko ball sent from the toothed wheel is directly counted by a sensor, and the solenoid is actuated to operate the toothed wheel when a count value set in advance is reached by the counting signal of the number of balls paid out. Is stopped and a predetermined number of balls are thrown out.

[0009]

In the locked state, the pachinko balls are supplied into the ball passage, and the toothed wheel has the engaging portion of the toothed wheel stopper engaged with the protrusion of the engaging recess to prevent the toothed wheel from rotating. At the same time, the lower end of the stopper lock member is located on the back surface of the locking portion to restrain the tooth ring stopper and stop the outflow of the pachinko balls in the ball passage.

When the pachinko ball ejection command signal is input, the solenoid is energized to rotate the stopper lock member, and the lower end of the stopper lock member is slid from the rear surface of the engaging portion of the tooth stopper and removed. It As a result, the tooth ring stopper rotates about the shaft, and the locking portion comes out of the engaging recess of the tooth wheel, and the tooth wheel is released from the constraint. As a result, the gear wheel is rotated clockwise by the weight of the pachinko ball, and the pachinko ball flows downward. The outflowing pachinko balls block the optical path of the sensor, so that a counting signal is generated and counting is performed based on the signal.

When a stop signal is input after the predetermined number of pachinko balls are thrown out, the solenoid is demagnetized and the stopper lock member is rotated, and its lower end moves to the rear surface of the engaging portion of the tooth wheel stopper. Engage the locking part with the engagement recess of the tooth ring,
Immediately stop the tooth ring and prevent further outflow of pachinko balls.

[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the internal structure of an embodiment of a pachinko ball counter 1 according to the present invention, showing the front face when the tooth ring 2 is locked, FIG. 2 showing the right side face, and FIG. The front view is shown when the lock is released.

The ball passage 3 is formed inside the body 4, and in the illustrated embodiment, a vertical area 3A, an arcuate area 3B continuous to the lower end thereof and corresponding to a quadrant, and the arcuate area 3B.
It has a vertical section 3C continuous to the lower end of B.

The tooth ring 2 has a plurality of (10 in the illustrated example) engaging recesses 2A, 2 into which one pachinko ball 5 can be fitted.
.., some of the engaging recesses 2A, 2A ... Face the ball passage 3 through holes 3E formed in the wall 3D on the concave curved surface side of the arcuate section 3B of the ball passage 3. As shown, the center of the toothed wheel 2 is rotatably attached to the body 4 by a shaft 6.

An optical sensor is used as the sensor 7, and it is provided at a bent portion from the arcuate section 3B to the vertical section 3C of the ball passage 3, and the ball passage of the optical sensor support 7A supported by the body 4 is provided. A light projecting and light receiving element 7B is provided opposite to the tip end portion extending to the side central portion of 3, and the pachinko ball 5 passing through the ball passage 3 interrupts the optical path to emit a signal and count.

The rotation control member 8 has a governor structure as in the conventional case, an intermediate portion is swingably attached to the body 4 by a shaft 9, and two protrusions 8A and 8B at both ends are engaged with the tooth portion 2. The engaging recesses 2A, 2A ... Are alternately inserted into and removed from each other to control the rotation for each tooth.

The toothed wheel stopper 10 has at one end a locking portion 11 that engages with the engagement recess 2A of the toothed wheel 2 to restrain its rotation, and the middle portion is swingable by the shaft 9 on the body 4. In the illustrated embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, the intermediate portion is formed in a box shape with both sides open, is fitted on the outside of the rotation control member 8 and is attached coaxially by the shaft 9. There is.

A weak tension spring 12 is tensioned between the other end of the toothed wheel stopper 10 and the body 4 side, and the locking portion 11 is urged in a direction away from the engagement recess 2A of the toothed wheel 2. ing.

The locking portion 11 is an engaging recess 2A of the toothed wheel 2.
The rear surface 11B of the locking portion 11 is formed flat, having a jaw portion 11A that engages with a protrusion on the rear side in the rotation direction of FIG.

An intermediate portion of the stopper lock member 13 is swingably attached to the body 4 by a shaft 14, and a lower portion of the stopper lock member 13 is attached to a plunger 15A of a solenoid 15 attached to the body 4 and is long with a pin 16. Connected with hole 13A,
A tension spring 1 is provided between the portion above the shaft 14 and the body 4 side.
7 is draped. When the solenoid 15 is de-energized, the lock member 13 is rotated counterclockwise in the figure by the spring 17 to come into contact with the stopper 18 on the body 4 side, and the lower end 13B of the lock member 13 locks the toothed wheel stopper 10. Part 1
When the solenoid 15 is excited, the stopper lock member 13 rotates clockwise in the figure, and the lower end 13B is the rear surface of the locking portion 11. It is arranged so as to slide to the left from 11B.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described.

In the locked state of FIG. 1, the pachinko balls 5 are supplied into the ball passage 3, and the toothed wheel 2 has the jaw 11A of the engaging portion 11 of the toothed wheel stopper 10 and the projection of the engaging recess 2A. 2B to prevent rotation of the toothed wheel 2 in the clockwise direction, and the lower end 13B of the stopper lock member 13 is located on the back surface 11B of the locking portion 11 to restrain the toothed wheel stopper 10. The outflow of the pachinko balls 5 in the ball passage 3 is stopped. The earliest pachinko ball 5 in this state is stopped by the corner 3F at the end of the arcuate section 3B of the ball passage 3 and one projection 2B of the toothed wheel 2.

When a command signal for ejecting the pachinko ball 5 is input, the solenoid 15 is energized and the plunger 15 is energized.
A is pulled, the stopper lock member 13 rotates clockwise around the shaft 14 against the spring 17, and the lower end 13B thereof is disengaged from the rear surface 11B of the locking portion 11 of the tooth stopper 10. As a result, the tooth stopper 10 rotates counterclockwise about the shaft 9 by the pulling force of the spring 12 as shown in FIG. The constraint of 2 is released. As a result, the toothed wheel 2 is rotated clockwise by the weight of the pachinko ball 5, and the pachinko ball 5 flows downward through the vertical section 3C. The outflowing pachinko balls 5 interrupt the optical path of the optical sensor 7 when entering the vertical area 3C, so that a counting signal is issued and counting is performed based on the signal.

When a stop signal is input in the state of FIG. 3 after the predetermined number of pachinko balls 5 are thrown out, the solenoid 15 is demagnetized and the stopper lock member 13 is rotated counterclockwise by the spring 17. The lower end 13B moves to the back surface 11B of the locking portion 11 of the tooth stopper 10 to move the locking portion 11
Is engaged with the engagement recess 2A of the toothed wheel 2 to immediately stop the toothed wheel 2. As a result, when the pachinko ball 5 at the position A in FIG. 3 reaches the position B in FIG. 1, the tooth ring 2 stops, and the outflow of the pachinko ball 5 thereafter is prevented.

[0026]

As described above, according to the present invention, the number of ejected pachinko balls is directly counted by the sensor provided in the ball passage immediately after the tooth ring. Even if balls are sent out at a high speed of 40 to 50 pieces per second, there is no switch operation delay or ON / OFF defect as in the past, and it is possible to eliminate the occurrence of erroneous counting based on this, and to count the number of thrown balls. Can be significantly increased. In addition, since the pachinko balls sent out by the tooth wheel are counted, it is possible to count regardless of the number of engaging recesses on the tooth wheel. The number of balls is not limited to an integral multiple of the number of recesses, any number of balls can be thrown out, and the degree of freedom can be increased. Never. In order to restrain the tooth ring, the stopper lock member presses the back surface of the locking portion of the tooth wheel stopper to engage with the engaging concave portion of the tooth wheel, so that the tooth ring can be reliably restrained by the engagement. Moreover, the locking force of the locking part of the tooth ring stopper does not depend on the spring force, but it is forcibly engaged by the stopper lock member, so the solenoid only needs to remove the lock member, so a small solenoid is used. However, there are various effects such as low power consumption and contribution to miniaturization of the counter itself.

The shape and structure of each member in the present invention is not limited to the illustrated embodiment, and can be changed appropriately.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of the inside of a pachinko ball counter according to an embodiment of the present invention in a locked state.

FIG. 2 is a right side view of the same.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the main part when the lock is released.

FIG. 4 is a front view of a tooth stopper.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the same.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Pachinko ball counter 2 Tooth ring 3 Passage 4 Body 5 Pachinko ball 7 Optical sensor as sensor 7B element 8 Rotation control member 10 Tooth ring stopper 11 Engagement part 13 Stopper lock part 15 Solenoid

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-52-118352 (JP, A) Actual opening 57-34276 (JP, U) Actual opening 57-21381 (JP, U)

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A toothed wheel rotatably provided so that a ball passage provided in the body and an engaging recess formed so that one pachinko ball can be fitted around the ball passage are exposed in the ball passage. When,
A sensor that counts pachinko balls that pass through the ball passage on the downstream side of this tooth wheel, a rotation control member that controls the rotation of the tooth wheel, and a locking portion at one end in the rotation direction rear side of the engaging recess of the tooth wheel. The toothed wheel stopper, which is swingably provided so as to engage with the projection of the toothed wheel to stop its rotation, and one end of the toothed wheel stopper is in sliding contact with the rear surface side of the toothed wheel stopper, and the toothed portion is engaged. A stopper lock member that is swingably provided so as to be able to slide and escape from the back surface while maintaining a state of being engaged with the protrusion of the recess, and pulling the stopper lock member to lock one end of the lock member. A pachinko ball sent out from the toothed wheel is directly counted by a sensor, and the solenoid is used when a preset count value is reached by a counting signal of the number of balls paid out. To stop the tooth ring and Pachinko ball counter, characterized by dispensing a number of balls. 2. An intermediate portion of the toothed wheel stopper is formed in a box shape with two surfaces open and is fitted onto the rotation control member, and the toothed wheel stopper and the rotation control member are coaxially attached to the body. The pachinko ball counter according to claim 1, which is worn.