JPH07617A - Ball dispenser - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a ball dispenser, by which an arbitrary number of balls can be dispensed quickly and smoothly and the number of balls to be dispensed can be counted correctly. CONSTITUTION:A flow preventing member 1 where a spiral flange part is formed on the periphery thereof is installed in such a manner as to be rotated by a pulse motor 2 in guide path 17 provided on the lower base 5 of a ball dispenser 9 in such a manner as to be extended vertically, and the ball introducing side flange part of the flow preventing member 1 is so constructed that the ball introducing side flange face is cut off with a gradient equivalent to the substantially half of a feed pitch and made thinner toward the ball introducing side. Accordingly, a prize ball 11 introduced through a guide path 15 is smoothly introduced into the guide path 17 by following the rotation of the flow preventing member 1, and a designated space is formed between the balls, so that the balls can be counted correctly by a count sensor 7 and discharged from a ball dispensing port 16.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a ball payout machine used for pachinko machines and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a ball payout machine for a pachinko machine, for example, an apparatus described in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 61-171983 is known. In the device described in this publication, a certain number of balls can be stored by providing an upper valve and a lower valve on the upper side and the lower side, respectively, in the passage leading from the storage unit for storing the balls to the outlet. A ball storage is provided to prevent balls from passing. Then, when the prize balls are generated, the lower valve is opened, the balls stored in the ball storage unit drop and are dispensed as prize balls from the payout opening, and all the stored balls are dispensed. After closing, the upper valve opens,
The ball storage unit stores a certain number of balls again.

However, with the recent diversification of customer needs, the number of prize balls corresponding to the prize balls has changed depending on each pachinko machine. That is, a certain number of prize balls were paid out for one prize ball in the past, but recently, the number of prize balls paid out for one prize ball changes according to the type of prize. I'm doing it. Therefore, when using the device as described in the above publication, it is necessary to arrange a plurality of devices according to the type of winning, and further, in order to make the number of prize balls to be paid out in each device different, The size of the ball reservoir formed between the valve and the lower valve has to be changed, which makes the device very difficult to manufacture and assemble.

Therefore, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the applicant, in the specification and drawings of Japanese Patent Application No. 04-11347, discloses a ball storage portion for storing balls and a ball payout outlet for paying out the balls. A ball guiding path that is formed in between and guides the ball from the ball storage portion to the ball paying outlet, and is arranged in the ball guiding path,
A spiral collar part is formed around the member, a flow-down prevention member for preventing the flow-down of balls, a drive means for rotationally driving the flow-down prevention member, and a counting means for counting the number of balls paid out from the ball payout outlet. A ball dispenser with and was proposed.

[0005]

However, according to this ball dispenser, an arbitrary number of balls can be dispensed, and the assembling work and the time can be shortened. However, if the timing of rotation of the downflow prevention member happens to be incorrect, the end of the collar may collide with the ball and the ball may not be smoothly introduced into the guideway. In order to prevent this, for example, a method of controlling the timing of the ball supply and the rotation of the flow-down prevention member is conceivable, but a new rotation position sensor is required, and a quick ball payout operation cannot be performed. There is a risk. There is also a method of making the thickness of the collar portion as thin as possible, but since the interval formed between the balls becomes smaller accordingly, it may not be possible to accurately count the number of balls to be paid out. There is.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and can dispense an arbitrary number of balls quickly and smoothly and accurately count the number of balls to be dispensed. The purpose is to provide a ball dispenser that can

[0007]

In order to achieve this object, a ball payout machine of the present invention is formed between a ball storage part for storing a ball and a ball payout outlet for paying out a ball, and the ball storage part is provided. From the ball guide path to guide the ball from the to the ball payout exit, is arranged in the ball guide path, a spiral collar portion is formed in the periphery,
A flow-down prevention member for preventing the flow-down of balls, a drive unit for rotationally driving the flow-down prevention member, and a counting unit for counting the number of balls paid out from the ball payout outlet, and the flow-down prevention member is , A collar portion having a predetermined thickness is formed in a spiral shape with a feed pitch larger than the diameter of the ball, and at least the collar portion near the ball introduction hole becomes thinner toward the ball introduction ball, The collar surface of the ball is cut off. Further, the flange portion of the ball-introducing member of the flow-down prevention member has a flange surface cut off with an inclination corresponding to a feed pitch of about ½ of the feed pitch.

[0008]

In the ball dispenser of the present invention having the above-described structure, the ball guiding path formed between the ball storage section for storing the ball and the ball payout outlet for paying out the ball has a spiral shape around the ball guide path. A downflow prevention member having a collar portion is arranged. When this flow-down prevention member is rotationally driven by the drive means, the ball is moved in the ball guide path by the spiral collar portion and is paid out from the ball payout outlet. At this time, the balls supplied from the ball storage section are
With the rotation of the flow-down prevention member, due to the action of the collar part in which a part near the ball introduction gutter is cut off, the ball is smoothly introduced into the ball guide path, and by the collar part having a predetermined thickness,
A predetermined interval is formed between the balls and the balls are paid out. Thereby, the balls continuously and at intervals from the ball payout outlet are accurately counted by the counting means.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, two guide paths 15 for guiding the prize balls 11 are formed in the upper base 6 which constitutes the ball payout machine 9, and each of the guide paths 15 is formed. , Both sides of a guide path (ball guide path) 17 provided in the lower base body 5, respectively. Further, the lower substrate 5 is provided with two payout openings 16 corresponding to the lower end portions on both sides of the guide path 17. In the guide path 17, a downflow prevention member 1 having a spiral collar portion 1b having a feed pitch larger than the diameter of the prize balls 11 is arranged around the shaft 1a, and the upper portion of the shaft 1a is A well-known pulse motor (driving means) 2 is attached to a rotating shaft 2a with a set screw 3, and a lower portion thereof is rotatably supported by a bearing portion 4 on an inner bottom surface of a lower base body 5.

The pulse motor 2 and the upper and lower bases 6 and 5 are provided with two self-tapping screws 8 in a hole 2b provided in a mounting bracket of the motor 2 and a hole 6a provided in the upper base 6. It is inserted, and its tip is screwed into the tap hole 5a of the lower base 5 to be fixed integrally with the three members. Further, at the rear end portions of the upper base 6 and the lower base 5, one self-tapping screw 18 is screwed into the tap hole 6b of the upper base 6 through the hole 5b of the lower base 5. When the pulse motor 2 is rotationally driven, the downflow prevention member 1 also rotates around the shaft 1a in the direction of arrow A shown in FIG.

Outside the guideways 17 extending upward from the two payout openings 16, count sensors 7 for counting the number of prize balls 11 paid out from the payout openings 16 are provided respectively. 16 is attached to the lower base body 5. The count sensor 7 is composed of a light-transmissive photosensor, and the passage of the prize ball 11 is detected by blocking the optical path of the prize ball 11.
This is due to the well-known configuration.

FIG. 3 shows a state in which the ball payout machine 9 configured as described above is attached to a pachinko machine as a device for paying out prize balls 11, and above the ball payout machine 9 is shown. , When a winning ball occurs on a pachinko machine,
Passage 12 of prize balls 11 supplied from prize tank 10
Are formed so as to communicate with the guide path 15 formed in the upper base 6 of the ball dispenser 9. Further, below the ball payout machine 9, the prize balls 11 paid out from the payout exit 16 collide with each other, and a bell 14 for notifying the player that the prize balls 11 have been paid out in accordance with the winning, A delivery port 13 for delivering the prize balls is provided to a well-known ball receiving portion (not shown) provided on the front surface of the pachinko machine.

Next, the spiral shape of the flow-down prevention member 1 in the ball payout machine 9 of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5.

First, a method of manufacturing the downflow prevention member 1 will be described. First, as shown in FIG. 4A, in forming the spiral collar portion 1b around the downflow prevention member 1, the prize balls 11 are formed. The spiral collar 1b is formed with a feed pitch P slightly larger than the sum of the diameter and the thickness of the collar 1. As a result, a groove having a width that allows the prize balls 11 to pass is formed between the collars of the collar portion 1b.

Next, the portion indicated by S in FIG. 4 (b), that is, the end portion of the collar portion 1b where the ball introduction of the prize ball 11 is formed, is made so that the ball introduction gradually becomes thinner toward the groove. In the predetermined range W, the collar surface of the ball introduction is cut off. Specifically, in FIG. 4 (a), the cutting tool used to manufacture the collar portion 1b is moved within a predetermined range W at a feed pitch of approximately ½ of the feed pitch P,
A portion indicated by S in FIG. 4B is cut off to form a tapered collar portion 1c as shown in FIG. 5A. by this,
The flange surface of the collar portion 1c on which the balls are introduced has a feed pitch P of approximately 2
The flange surface has an inclination corresponding to a feed pitch of 1 / min.

Next, referring to FIGS. 5 (a) and 5 (b), the operation of the downflow prevention member 1 will be described. First, the prize ball 11b that has entered the guide path 17 is shown in FIG. 5 (a). like,
It is in contact with the prize ball 11a already sent. At this time, the ball introduction of the downflow prevention member 1 is the collar portion 1c
, Enter into the space between the prize balls 11a and 11b, and as shown in FIG. 5B, when the flow-down prevention member 1 rotates in the direction of arrow A, the prize balls 11a and 11b.
While being moved downward in the figure, they are smoothly separated to have a predetermined interval (thickness of the collar portion 1b) B.

Further, when the downflow prevention member 1 rotates in the direction of arrow A, the prize ball 11a and the prize ball 11b are released from the ball payout opening 16 while maintaining the interval B by the flange part 1b following the flange part 1c.
Lead to. Then, at this interval B, the prize ball 11a
And the prize balls 11b pass through the count sensor 7, so that the transmitted light is reliably interrupted, and the passage of each prize ball 11 is accurately detected.

In this embodiment, the feed pitch P is smaller than the feed pitch P of the collar 1b, for example, 2 minutes of the feed pitch P, so that the prize balls 11 can be separated quickly and smoothly by the collar 1c. Although the collar surface having an inclination corresponding to the feed pitch of 1 is formed, the present invention is not limited to this, and the prize balls 11 are separated by the time the count sensor 7 is reached, and the balls are separated from each other. Any structure may be used as long as the space B can be formed between the and. For example, half
Forming a flange surface having an inclination corresponding to a feed pitch larger than the feed pitch (smaller than the feed pitch P), thereby further expanding the formation range of the collar portion 1c and separating the prize balls 11 more smoothly. You may be able to do. In addition, it is not limited to the collar surface with one kind of inclination,
For example, it is possible to form a collar surface having a plurality of types of inclinations that gradually (or infinitely) approach the feed pitch P from the collar portion 1c toward the collar portion 1b.

Next, the configuration of the control system for the ball payout machine 9 of this embodiment will be described with reference to the block diagram shown in FIG.

A motor drive circuit 25 for generating a drive pulse for driving the pulse motor 2 is connected to the ball payout control circuit 24 for controlling the operation of the ball payout machine 9. The ball payout control circuit 24 is also connected to the count sensor 7, detects the output of the count sensor 7 and counts the number of payouts of the prize balls 11 to obtain a predetermined number of prize balls 1
When the payout of 1 is completed, the generation of the drive pulse by the motor drive circuit 25 is stopped. The ball payout control circuit 24 is also connected to a main body control circuit 23 that controls the main body of the pachinko machine. This body control circuit 23
Is connected to a plurality of winning ball detectors 21, sends the number data of the prize balls 11 which are different depending on each winning ball to the ball payout control circuit 24 as the winning balls are generated,
It controls the operation of the pachinko machine body, such as changing the numbers of a slot machine and instructing the generation of electronic sounds associated with winning.

Next, the operation of the ball payout machine 9 thus constructed will be described.

When the winning ball detector 21 detects the occurrence of a winning ball, the main body control circuit 23 sends the number data of the prize balls 11 corresponding to the winning ball to the ball payout control circuit 24. Then, the ball payout control circuit 24 instructs the motor drive circuit 25 to generate a drive pulse. When the pulse motor 2 is rotationally driven by the drive pulse generated by the motor drive circuit 25, the shaft body 1a of the flow-down prevention member 1 connected to the rotation shaft 2a of the pulse motor 2 is moved by the arrow shown in FIG. Rotate in the A direction. Along with this, the prize balls 11 supplied from the prize ball tank 10 through the passage 12 and the guide path 15 to the guide path 17 provided in the lower base body 5.
Is gradually moved downward in the guide path 17 by the action of the collar portions 1c and 1b of the flow-down prevention member 1 in a state where only the vertical movement is allowed by the guide path 17.
It falls from 6.

At this time, the prize balls 11 dropped from the respective payout openings 16 pass through the count sensors 7 corresponding to the respective payout openings 16, so that the prize balls 11 paid out.
The number of coins is counted by the ball payout control circuit 24. When the total number of the prize balls 11 paid out from each payout opening 16 reaches the number corresponding to the winning prize, the ball payout control circuit 24 stops the drive pulse generation instruction to the motor drive circuit 25. The rotation of the pulse motor 2 is stopped.
Then, the prize balls 11 in the taxiway 18 become
The collar portions 1b and 1c are stopped while being prevented from moving downward. Then, when the next prize-winning ball is generated and the pulse motor 2 is driven to rotate again as described above, the prize-winning ball 11 drops from the payout opening 16 through the guide path 17 accordingly.

The prize balls 12 dropped from the payout opening 16 are sent out from the sending exit 13 to a ball receiving portion provided on the front surface of the pachinko machine, and collide with the bell 14 in the middle of the drop, so that the player can By hearing the sound of the bell 14, it is possible to know that the prize ball 11 has been paid out and the prize ball 11 has been paid out.

As described above, even when the number of prize balls 11 changes depending on the type of prize balls, a series of ball dispensers 9
Can easily respond to that change, and
Even when the prize balls are continuously generated, there is no delay in paying out the prize balls 11 as in the conventional case, and the game player can comfortably enjoy the game.

The present invention can be used not only for paying out prize balls 11 due to the occurrence of winning balls, but also for a ball lending machine for lending out play balls when money is thrown in. Is.

[0028]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the ball dispenser of the present invention, the number of balls to be dispensed can be arbitrarily set, so that the number of balls to be dispensed at once can be adjusted according to the conventional method. There is no need to install multiple ball dispensers, making it easy to manufacture and assemble the ball dispenser, and even if it is necessary to dispense the balls continuously, there may be a delay in delivering the balls. There is no. Moreover, in particular, the downflow prevention member is
Since a part of the collar part of the ball introduction hole is cut off thinly, the ball supplied from the ball storage part can be smoothly introduced into the ball guiding path, and the collar part having a predetermined thickness is used. Since the predetermined interval can be reliably formed between the balls, it is possible to accurately count the balls continuously and at intervals from the ball payout outlet by the counting means.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway side view of a ball payout machine showing an embodiment embodying the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a ball dispenser.

FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway side view showing a state in which the ball payout machine is attached to a pachinko machine.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a method of manufacturing a flow-down prevention member.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing the operation of a flow-down prevention member.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a control system that controls the operation of the pachinko machine.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Downflow prevention member 1b Collar part 1c Collar part where the collar surface of the ball introduction is cut off 2 Pulse motor (driving means) 5 Lower base 6 Upper base 7 Count sensor 9 Ball dispenser 10 Prize ball tank 11 Prize ball 16 Payout Exit (ball payout exit) 17 Taxiway (ball taxiway) 24 Ball payout control circuit 25 Motor drive circuit

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A ball guiding path which is formed between a ball storing portion for storing balls and a ball paying outlet for paying out balls, and which guides the ball from the ball storing section to the ball paying outlet, and the ball guiding path. Arranged in the road, a spiral collar is formed around it, a flow-down prevention member for preventing the flow-down of balls, a drive means for rotating the flow-down prevention member, and a ball paid out from the ball payout outlet. And counting means for counting the number of the balls, further, the flow-down prevention member, the collar portion having a predetermined thickness is formed in a spiral with a feed pitch larger than the diameter of the ball, at least the ball introduction A ball dispensing machine characterized in that the collar surface of the ball introducing hole is cut off so that the collar portion near the tube becomes thinner toward the ball. 2. The flange portion of the flow-down prevention member in the vicinity of the ball introduction hole has a flange surface cut off at an inclination corresponding to a feed pitch of about ½ of the feed pitch. Item 1. The ball dispenser according to item 1.