JPH07600A - Shooting ball supply device for pinball game machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a shooting ball supply device 5 capable of shooting a ball with a small force. CONSTITUTION:This shooting ball supply device 5 is equipped with the following requirement. A case trough 7 provided with a ball entry 10 communicated with the termination of an upper ball bowl 4 and a ball exit 12 to be opened at the shooting part of a shooting rail is arranged at a position where the termination of the upper ball bowl 4 is connected to the shooting part. The longitudinal shaft 14 in a vertical direction is provided, and a supply control member 8 is mounted on the longitudinal shaft 14 so as to be freely rotatable horizontally. The supply control member 8 consists of a principal shaft part 15, an upper ball cutting part 16 and a lower ball stopping part 17 which is protruded at the principal shaft part 15 and which opens/closes a ball passage 9 along with the horizontal rotation of the principal shaft part 15, and it is rotated by a prescribed angle relating to the shooting operation of a ball hitting hammer 22. The upper part ball cutting part 16 is comprised in such a way that the ball passage 9 can be opened/closed by moving a ball receiving surface 16a on the upper surface of the part 16 horizontally. The lower part ball stopping part 17 corresponds to the ball exit 12, and is set so as to close the ball exit 12 when the upper part ball cutting part 16 opens the ball passage 9 and to open the ball exit 12 when the upper part ball cutting part 16 closes the ball passage 9.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a launch ball supply device for supplying pachinko balls on an upper bowl to the launching portion of a launch rail one by one.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional launch ball supply device,
There is No. 38859. As shown in FIG. 7, this launch ball supply device is a box type in which a ball entrance d communicating with the end of an upper bowl plate c via a front plate r and a ball exit e facing the launch part of the launch rail are provided. Case gutter f, a horizontal horizontal axis g provided parallel to the game board surface at the lower end of the case gutter f, and swinging toward the launch rail in the case gutter f supported by the horizontal axis g. And an operating supply control member h. The supply control member h is
A ball stopper j that opens and closes the ball passage i of the case gutter f by a swing operation, and a ball receiving portion k that receives the pachinko ball in the ball passage i and releases it to the ball outlet e by the swing operation. An engaging pin m projecting parallel to the horizontal axis g is linked to a batting mallet via an interlocking lever n, and reciprocates once for each firing motion of the batting mallet.

[0003]

In the above-mentioned launch ball supply device, the supply control member h receives the pachinko ball at an approximately midpoint between the axis of the horizontal axis g and the axis of the engagement pin m, and therefore the engagement pin m. Most of the ball pressure of the pachinko ball is added to. Therefore, a large force is required to swing the supply control member h, which eventually imposes a load on the motor for driving the hammer, and the engagement pin m and the interlocking lever n or the interlocking lever n and the batting ball. Wear of the mechanical contact parts such as mallet becomes severe. The present invention has been made in view of the above, and an object thereof is to provide a launch ball supply device capable of discharging a pachinko ball with a small force.

[0004]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention is a launching ball feeder for feeding one pachinko ball to the launching portion of a launching rail, which has the following requirements. Provided is a launch ball supply device for a pachinko machine. A case gutter provided with a ball inlet communicating with the end of the upper bowl and a ball outlet opening in the launching part of the launch rail is arranged at a position connecting the end of the upper dish and the launching part of the launch rail. A vertical axis in the vertical direction is provided on the case gutter, and a supply control member is attached to the vertical axis so as to be horizontally rotatable. The supply control member includes a main shaft portion through which the vertical axis passes, and an upper ball cutting portion and a lower ball stopper portion which are provided on the main shaft portion so as to project and open the ball passage of the case gutter according to the horizontal rotation of the main shaft portion. Then, in relation to the firing motion of the hitting mallet, the ball is rotated about the vertical axis by a predetermined angle. The upper ball cutting portion opens and closes the ball passage by moving the upper ball receiving surface horizontally. The lower ball stopper corresponds to the ball outlet of the case gutter, closes the ball outlet when the upper ball cutting portion opens the ball passage, and closes the ball when the upper ball cutting portion closes the ball passage. Set to open the exit.

[0005]

Since the supply control member horizontally rotates about the vertical vertical axis, the upper ball cutting portion and the lower ball stopper move in the horizontal direction. On the other hand, the ball pressure of the pachinko ball acts vertically in the case trough. In this way, since the upper ball cut portion and the lower ball stopper move in the direction orthogonal to the acting direction of the ball pressure, the force exerted by the ball pressure as a brake on the upper ball cut portion and the lower stopper can be ignored. Small enough. Therefore, the supply control member can be moved with a small force.

[0006]

First Embodiment A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 is a perspective view of the launch ball supply device, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the launch ball supply device showing the operating state, and FIG. 3 is a front view of the pachinko machine. The pachinko machine P is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, there is a front plate 2 under the glass door frame 1, and an upper bowl 4 is attached to the front plate 2. The launch ball supply device 5 is disposed inside the front plate 2 in association with the end of the upper bowl plate 4, and is used to send out a box-shaped case gutter 7 integrally having a mounting base 6 and pachinko balls one by one. The supply control member 8 is included.

The case gutter 7 has a ball passage 9 through which one pachinko ball can pass, and a ball inlet 10 is formed at the upper end so as to communicate with the end of the upper bowl plate 4 via the front plate 2. . On the other hand, a ball outlet 12 facing the launching portion S of the launch rail 11 is formed at the lower end of the case gutter 7. The upper surface of the bottom plate 7f of the case gutter 7 is inclined downward toward the ball outlet 12, so that the pachinko ball placed on the bottom plate 7f of the case gutter 7 rolls toward the ball outlet 12. In addition, an opening 13 is formed in the lower half of the side wall on the right side of the case gutter 7 in FIG. 1 so as to be continuous with the ball outlet 12.
A vertical axis 14 in the vertical direction is provided substantially at the center of the opening 13.

The supply control member 8 is approximately one pachinko ball high and has a main shaft portion 15 formed around a shaft hole through which the vertical axis 14 passes, and an eaves-like shape at the upper end of the main shaft portion 15. A projecting upper ball cutting part 16, a key-shaped lower ball stopping part 17 projecting laterally from the body part of the main shaft part 15, and a bottom plate 7f lower surface of the case gutter 7 projecting downward from the lower ball stopping part 17. And an engaging pin 18 that bends in the horizontal direction along the line. The supply control member 8 is urged counterclockwise in FIG. 1 by the action of a spring 19 attached to the vertical axis 14, and is projected from the mounting base 6 of the case gutter 7 to the rear of the supply control member 8. The lower ball stopper 17 hits the stopper piece 20 present and stops at the initial position. The upper ball cutting part 16 is provided with the supply control member 8
Is in the stop position, the ball passage 9 is located substantially at the center of the ball passage 9 of the case gutter 7 and the ball passage 9 is closed. On the other hand, the lower ball stopper 17 is set in a shape that opens the ball outlet 12 apart from the ball outlet 12 of the case gutter 7 in a state where the supply control member 8 is in the stop position. Further, when the supply control member 8 is rotated and the lower ball stopper 17 closes the ball outlet 12, the upper ball cutter 16 and the lower ball stopper 17 are retracted from the center of the ball passage 9 by the upper ball cutter 16. The ball passage 9 is set to open.

The engagement pin 18 has a roller 18a on the inclined surface T of the inclined operation piece 21a of the interlocking lever 21 which is an intermediate member.
Through the seesaw operation of the interlocking lever 21 and the urging force of the spring 19 so as to reciprocally rotate about the vertical axis 14 within a certain range by a predetermined angle. As is well known, in the interlocking lever 21, the hanging arm 21b has the engagement rod 22a of the hitting mallet 22.
The feed control member 8 reciprocates once for each firing operation of the hitting mallet 22.

Next, the supply operation of the launch ball supply device 5 of the first embodiment will be described. First, when a pachinko ball is placed in the upper ball plate 4, the leading pachinko ball enters the case gutter 7 through the ball entrance 10. However, since the ball passage 9 of the case gutter 7 is closed by the upper ball cutting portion 16 of the supply control member 8 as shown in FIG. 1, the leading pachinko ball rests on the upper surface of the upper ball cutting portion 16. When the firing motor is driven in this state, the hammer 22 is pulled in the direction of arrow V in FIG. 1, the interlocking lever 21 swings in the direction of arrow W in FIG. Then, the engagement pin 18 is pushed toward the front plate 2 side along the inclined surface T of the inclination operation piece 21a, and the supply control member 8 rotates clockwise against the bias of the spring 19 as shown in FIG. To do. By this rotation, the upper ball cutting portion 16 retracts from the center of the ball passage 9 and opens the ball passage 9, so that the leading pachinko ball flows down onto the bottom plate 7f of the case gutter 7. However, FIG.
In this state, the lower ball stopper 17 closes the ball outlet 12, so that the leading pachinko ball is stopped on the bottom plate 7f of the case gutter 7.

Next, when the batting mallet 22 vigorously returns to the firing section S, the interlocking lever 21 returns to its original posture, and the supply control member 8 returns to the initial position of FIG. By this rotation, the lower ball stopper 17 retreats from the ball outlet 12 to open the ball outlet 12, and the leading pachinko ball moves to the bottom plate 7 of the case gutter 7.
Rolling along the slope of f, passing through the ball outlet 12,
It stands on the launching part S of the launching rail 11 and stands by. On the other hand, the subsequent pachinko ball that was on top of the first pachinko ball,
Since the upper ball cutting portion 16 moves back and closes the ball passage 9, even if the leading pachinko ball flows out, it does not drop. At this time, since the upper ball receiving surface 16a of the upper ball cutting portion 16 moves horizontally and slides into the center of the lower surface of the pachinko ball, it is hardly affected by the ball pressure of the subsequent pachinko ball during movement. That is, the ball pressure acts in the vertical direction, whereas the upper ball cutting portion 16 moves in the horizontal direction orthogonal to it, and since the pachinko ball is a steel ball, the upper ball cutting portion 16 is a ball. Even if it is strongly pressed against, it will easily rotate with the horizontal movement of the upper ball cutting portion 16. Therefore, the supply control member 8 can be rotated with a small force.

As is apparent from the above description, the first firing operation is a blank firing. Next, when the batting mallet 22 is pulled again by the drive of the firing motor and vigorously returns to the launching section S, the pachinko ball waiting on the launching section S is launched, and instead of that, the pachinko ball is replaced in the same manner as above. The pachinko ball of is sent to the launching section S. After that, one pachinko ball is supplied to the firing unit S for each firing operation of the hitting mallet 22.

[0013]

[Embodiment 2] FIG. 4 to FIG.
(A) and (b) will be described. Note that FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the supply control member, FIG.
6B is a vertical cross-sectional view of a main part showing a state where the supply control member is rotated, FIG. 6A is a cross-sectional view taken along line XX of FIG.
5B is a sectional view taken along line YY of FIG. The launch ball supply device 5 of the second embodiment is characterized by the supply control member 8. That is, as shown in FIG. 4, in the supply control member 8, the upper ball cutting portion 16 is formed wide in the axial direction of the vertical axis 14, and the top pachinko ball B1 placed on the bottom plate 7f of the case gutter 7 is provided. It comes in contact with the rear side. Therefore, the supply operation of the launch ball supply device 5 according to the second embodiment will be described below.

Since the ball passage 9 of the case gutter 7 is closed by the upper ball cutting portion 16 of the supply control member 8 as shown in FIG. 5A, the leading pachinko ball B1 is the upper surface of the upper ball cutting portion 16. It stops on the. In this state, when the hitting mallet 22 is pulled by the firing motor, the interlocking lever 21 as in the first embodiment.
The engagement pin 18 is pushed to the front plate 2 side by the action of
The supply control member 8 rotates as shown in FIG. Then, the upper ball cutting portion 16 retracts and the ball passage 9 opens, so that the leading pachinko ball B1 flows down onto the bottom plate 7f of the case gutter 7. However, FIG. 5 (b) and FIG. 6 (b)
In this state, since the lower ball stopper 17 closes the ball outlet 12, the leading pachinko ball B1 is the bottom plate 7 of the case gutter 7.
Stop on f.

Next, when the hitting mallet 22 vigorously returns to the launching section S, the interlocking lever 21 returns to its original posture, and the supply control member 8 is elastically actuated by the spring 19 as shown in FIGS. ) Return to the initial position. By this rotation, the lower ball stopper portion 17 retreats from the ball outlet 12 to open the ball outlet 12, and the upper ball cutting portion 16 pushes the rear side of the pachinko ball B1. Therefore, the pachinko ball B1 passes through the ball outlet 12 while rolling on the bottom plate 7f of the case gutter 7, and rests on the launching portion S of the launch rail 11 to stand by. On the other hand, the succeeding pachinko ball B2 placed on the leading pachinko ball B1 does not fall even if the leading pachinko ball B1 flows out because the upper ball cutting portion 16 moves back to close the ball passage 9.

Next, the hammer 2 is driven by driving the firing motor.
When 2 is pulled again and vigorously returns to the firing unit S, the firing unit S
The pachinko ball B1 that has been waiting at is hit out, and instead of that, the next pachinko ball B2 is sent out to the launching section S in the same manner as described above. After that, one pachinko ball is supplied to the firing unit S for each firing operation of the hitting mallet 22. As described above, in the launch ball supply device 5 of the second embodiment, the upper ball cutting portion 16 surely pushes the pachinko ball toward the ball outlet 12, so that the rolling resistance of the pachinko ball increases due to dirt and moisture. However, the supply timing is always stable. Also,
Since the launch ball supply device 5 according to the second embodiment has a structure in which the pachinko ball is pushed out by the upper ball cutting portion 16, the bottom plate 7f of the case gutter 7 can be horizontal or can be inverted. Bottom plate 7
When f is horizontal, the stability of the pachinko ball on the bottom plate 7f is excellent. Further, if the bottom plate 7f is reversely inclined, the pachinko balls will surely contact the upper ball cutting part 16 in a state of being placed on the bottom plate 7f, so that there is a gap between the upper ball cutting part 16 and the pachinko ball. There is no phenomenon of hitting a pachinko ball with the upper ball cutting part 16, and the pachinko ball is extruded in a quiet and stable state.

The launch ball supply device 5 according to the first and second embodiments.
Is less likely to cause an accident when the front plate 2 is closed than in a conventional launch ball supply device. That is, when it is necessary to interrupt the game and open the front plate 2 due to some trouble, the batting mallet 22 may stop in a tilted state, and the interlocking lever 21 may also stop in the tilted state accordingly. When the front plate 2 is opened in this state, the engagement pin 18 is disengaged from the interlocking lever 21, so that the supply control member 8 returns to the initial position. Therefore, when the front plate 2 is closed, the interlocking lever 21 that remains tilted and the engagement pin 18 collide head-on in the same plane, but the conventional launch ball supply device is
Since the engaging pin swings in the vertical direction, there is a risk that the engaging pin may be damaged if it receives a shock in the horizontal direction. However, in the launch ball supply device 5 of the first and second embodiments, the engagement pin 18 swings horizontally about the vertical axis 14, and therefore, when the front plate 2 is closed, the engagement pin 18 and the interlocking lever 21. Even if they collide with each other in the same plane, the engaging pin 18 rotates around the vertical axis 14 and escapes, so that it is not damaged.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the first and second embodiments, the present invention is of course not limited to the above embodiments. For example, in the first and second embodiments, the supply control member 8 and the batting mallet 22 are mechanically linked via the interlocking lever 21, but a solenoid is installed beside the engaging pin 18 to perform the firing operation of the batting mallet 22. The solenoids may be driven in synchronization with each other. Further, although the supply control member 8 is reciprocally rotated within a certain range in the first and second embodiments, it may be a rotary type using a stepping motor or a motor for driving the hammer 22. In this case, the shapes of the upper ball cutting portion 16 and the lower ball stopping portion 17 are determined according to the rotation amount of the supply control member 8 in one stroke. Further, the supply control member 8
There are various shapes such as those of the first and second embodiments and the rotary type, and any shape may be used as long as the requirements of claim 1 can be satisfied.

[0019]

According to the launch ball feeder of the present invention, the feed control member is pivotally supported on the vertical axis, and the upper ball cutting portion and the lower ball stopper are horizontally rotated. The ball pressure acting in the vertical direction in the gutter exerts almost no braking action on the movement of the upper ball cut part and the lower ball stop part. Therefore, the supply control member can be moved with a small force, and in the current interlocking lever system, the effects of reducing the load on the firing motor and improving the durability of each component are achieved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a launch ball supply device.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the launch ball supply device in an operating state.

FIG. 3 is a front view of a pachinko machine.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a supply control member.

5A is a vertical cross-sectional view of the main part, and FIG. 5B is a vertical cross-sectional view of the main part showing a state in which the supply control member is rotated.

6A is a sectional view taken along line XX of FIG.
5B is a sectional view taken along line YY of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a conventional launch ball supply device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 4 ... upper ball plate 5 ... launch ball supply device 7 ... case gutter 8 ... supply control member 9 ... ball passage 10 ... ball inlet 11 ... launch rail 12 ... ball outlet 14 ... vertical axis 15 ... main shaft section 16 ... upper ball cutting section 16a ... Ball receiving surface 17 ... Lower ball stopping portion 22 ... Hitting mallet S ... Launching portion P ... Pachinko machine B1, B2 ... Pachinko ball

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A launch ball supplying device for a pachinko machine, which supplies the pachinko balls one by one to a launching part of a launch rail, characterized in that: A case gutter provided with a ball inlet communicating with the end of the upper bowl and a ball outlet opening in the launching part of the launch rail is arranged at a position connecting the end of the upper dish and the launching part of the launch rail. A vertical axis is provided in the vertical direction, and a supply control member is mounted on the vertical axis so as to be horizontally rotatable. The supply control member includes a main shaft portion through which the vertical axis passes, and an upper ball cutting portion and a lower ball stopper portion that are provided on the main shaft portion so as to project and open the ball passage of the case gutter according to the horizontal rotation of the main shaft portion. Then, in relation to the firing motion of the hitting mallet, the ball is rotated about the vertical axis by a predetermined angle. The upper ball cutting portion opens and closes the ball passage by moving the upper ball receiving surface horizontally. The lower ball stopper corresponds to the ball outlet of the case gutter, closes the ball outlet when the upper ball cutting portion opens the ball passage, and closes the ball when the upper ball cutting portion closes the ball passage. Set to open the exit.