JPH08329300A - Hopper device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To enable a hopper motor to rotate easily and stably by lightening the load of the weight of stored medals on a rotary disk by decentralizing the load of the weight of the stored medals even when medals are stored in a hopper tank in quantities as to the hopper device which is used for a medal game machine, a medal lending machine, etc. CONSTITUTION: A base end part 100 is fixed to the slanting surface 40 of the hopper tank 10 and a medal guide plate 102 is provided which has its free end part 101 separated upward from a medal discharge opening 50 and extends almost horizontally from the lower end of the slanting surface 40 to above the medal discharge opening 50.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a hopper device used in a medal game machine, a medal lending machine or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a hopper device of this type,
A hopper that has a medal supply port in the upper part, has a medal ejection port smaller than the medal supply port in the lower part, and has an inclined surface inclined downward toward the medal ejection port between the medal ejection port and the medal ejection port. A tank, a rotary disc having a plurality of medal holes facing the medal discharge port of the hopper tank, into which the medals falling from the medal discharge port are fitted, and by rotating and driving the rotary disc, It is known to have a hopper motor for paying out medals.

Then, the hopper device pays out to the player one by one the medals fitted in the medal holes by rotating the rotary disc by a predetermined angle.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional hopper device, for example, when replenishing medals,
When a large amount of medals are stored in the hopper tank, the medal discharge port is formed smaller than the medal supply port, so all of the stored medals, including medals stored in the upper layer of the hopper tank, are stored. The weight of the medals was concentrated on the medal outlet, and it was directly applied to the rotating disc that was installed facing the medal outlet.

Therefore, in order to pay out the medals while a large number of medals are stored in the hopper tank,
When the hopper motor is activated to rotate the rotating disc, the rotating disc may not be rotated due to the load of a large amount of medals loaded in the hopper tank. Further, even if the rotary disc is rotated, driving the hopper motor under a high load caused by a large number of medals causes a failure.

Therefore, the invention according to claim 1 has been made in view of the problems of the above-described conventional technique, and the purpose thereof is to store a large number of medals in the hopper tank. Even if it is, the load due to the weight of the stored medals is dispersed, so that the load due to the weight of the stored medals is reduced on the rotating disk, and the hopper motor can easily rotate and the hopper motor can be rotated. It is intended to provide a hopper device capable of stable rotation.

The invention according to claim 2 is the above-mentioned claim 1.
In addition to the object of the invention described above, it is an object of the present invention to further facilitate the dropping of medals on the guide plate. In addition to the object of the invention described in claim 1 or claim 2, the invention of claim 3 aims to provide a more specific arrangement position of the free end portion of the medal guide plate.

[0008]

The present invention is to achieve the above-mentioned object, and the contents thereof will be described below with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings. According to the invention described in claim 1, the inclined surface (40) of the hopper tank (10) has the inclined surface.
The base end portion (100) is fixed to (40), the free end portion (101) moves upward from the medal discharge port (50), and the medal discharge port (50) from the inclined lower end of the inclined surface (40). ), A medal guide plate (102) extending substantially horizontally is provided.

The invention according to claim 2 is the above-mentioned claim 1.
In addition to the characteristic points of the described invention, the following points are characteristic. That is, the medal guide plate (102) is made of elastic metal. The invention described in claim 3 is characterized by the following points in addition to the characteristic points of the invention described in claim 1 or claim 2.

That is, the free end of the medal guide plate (102)
(101), so as to block almost half of the medal outlet (50),
It is located above and apart from the medal discharge port (50).

[0011]

[Operation] Therefore, according to the invention of claim 1,
The plurality of medals supplied from the medal supply port slide down on the medal inclined surface (40) in the hopper tank (10) toward the medal ejection port. For medals that flow down the inclined surface (40), change the flowing direction from above the medal discharge port (50) to the horizontal direction along the medal guide plate (102) provided at the inclined lower end of the inclined surface (40). Is guided and reaches the medal discharge port (50).

Further, when the medals are supplied from the medal supply port, the medals are gradually accumulated from the lower end of the medal discharge port (50), and the medals are accumulated beyond the medal guide plate (102) to the inclined surface (40). Inside the hopper tank (10), place the medal guide plate (1
When the medals are accumulated beyond 02), the medals located on the medal guide plate (102) are stored in a layer higher than the medal guide plate (102) because the medal storage plate supports the medals. The weight of the medals is applied to the medal guide plate (102) and is not directly applied to the rotating disc.

According to the second aspect of the invention, in addition to the action described in the first aspect, the following action is exhibited. That is, the medal guide plate (102) is made of elastic metal. Therefore, due to the weight of the medal positioned on the medal guide plate (102), the medal guide plate (102) is
Since the free end portion (101) further inclines toward the medal ejection port (50), the medal easily drops toward the medal ejection port (50).

According to the invention described in claim 3, in addition to the operation described in claim 1, the following operation is achieved. That is, the free end portion (101) of the medal guide plate (102) closes almost half of the medal ejection opening (50) so that the medal ejection opening (50) is closed.
Located far above. Therefore, the medal outlet
The rotating disc provided facing the (50), the weight of the medal on the medal guide plate (102) is almost not applied to the part which is closed by the guide plate, so that the medal of the medal as a whole is The load due to the weight is reduced, and the hopper motor drives the rotation more easily.

[0015]

1 to 3 show an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a hopper tank, FIG. 2 is a plan view of the hopper tank, and FIG. 3 is a hopper tank in a medal storage state. Each of the vertical cross-sectional views is shown. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 denotes a hopper tank in a hopper device according to the present invention. The hopper tank 10 stores medals M to be paid out to a player, and the hopper tank has a lower end at the lower end thereof.
In order to eject the medal M, for example, a rotary disk D (FIG. 2) that is rotationally driven by a hopper motor (not shown) using direct current or the like is arranged, and is installed in the housing of a medal game machine, for example, a slot machine. .

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the hopper tank 10 has a frame-shaped four-sided wall 20 surrounding the four sides and the four-sided wall 20.
A medal supply opening 30 for supplying the medal M from above, which is opened at the upper end of the inclined wall 40, an inclined surface 40 continuously formed at the lower end of the four-sided wall 20, and an inclined lower end of the inclined surface 40. A medal ejection port 50 for ejecting the medal M, and a connecting portion 60 provided to a lower end edge of the medal ejection port 50 to a hopper motor (not shown) are provided.

The four-sided wall 20 is, as shown in FIGS.
A pair of horizontal side walls 21 and 22 located in parallel with each other, which are located in parallel with each other, and a pair of side walls 21 and 22 connected to each other, which are located in parallel with each other in FIG. It is composed of vertical side walls 23 and 24, and is formed in a square box shape as a whole. Of the pair of vertical side walls 23, 24,
The upper end of the vertical side wall 24 located on the right side in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, a cutout portion 70 is formed, and in the cutout portion 70, a medal receiving plate 80 having an L-shaped cross section for receiving a medal M inserted from a medal insertion slot (not shown) of the slot machine, To project to the outside of the right vertical sidewall 24,
It is fitted in the notch 70.

Among the lateral side walls 21, 22, the upper side wall 21 is temporarily stored in the middle of the height of the medal M in the hopper tank when it overflows, as shown in FIG. A medal flow-down port 90 for allowing a medal M to flow down is formed in a side tank (not shown). Between the cutout portion 70 and the medal outlet 90, as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, a guide plate 81 for causing the medal M received by the medal receiving plate 80 to flow down to the side tank through the medal flow down port 90 has a vertical side wall at a position where one end faces the notch 70.
It contacts with the inner side of 24, the other end penetrates the medal outlet 90, projects outward, and is inclined downward from one end toward the other end, and the notch
It is provided so that the 70 and the medal outlet 90 may communicate with each other.

The inclined surface 40, as shown in FIGS.
A medal M supplied from the medal supply port 30 can be dropped into the medal discharge port 50 by being formed so as to be inclined downward toward the medal discharge port 50 from the middle of the height of the side wall 22 opposite to the medal flow port 90. . Further, in the middle of the inclination of the inclined surface 40, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the base end portion 100 is fixed to the inclined surface, and the free end portion 101 closes almost half of the medal discharge port 50. A medal guide plate 102 is provided above the discharge port 50 so as to extend away therefrom.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the medal guide plate 102 is located along the surface of the inclined surface 40 and is fixed to the inclined surface 40 with a base end portion 100, and the base end portion 100. Tilts along the surface of the inclined surface 40 from the
And a free end portion 101 that extends substantially horizontally from a position facing the upper surface of the medal discharge port 50 to above the medal discharge port 50, and is integrally formed of a thin metal plate having elasticity.

As shown in FIG. 1, the connecting portion 60 is provided with an annular flange 61 projecting from the opening edge of the medal discharge port 50 in the outer peripheral direction in the form of a flange, and the hopper motor via the annular flange 61. (Not shown). Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the rotating disc D is formed in a disk shape, is positioned so as to close the lower end of the medal discharge port 50, and has a circular shape having an inner diameter substantially equal to the diameter of the medal M on the upper surface thereof. so,
The medal hole h that penetrates from the top surface to the bottom surface of the rotating disk D
Are provided at seven locations at equal intervals in the circumferential direction.

Next, the operation of supplying medals into the hopper tank 10 of the hopper device having the above-described structure and paying out a predetermined number of medals M from the supplied medals M to the player will be described. The hopper device installed in the housing of the slot machine uses a rotating disk D in order to pay out the medals M to the player upon winning the prize.
The medals in the hopper tank 10 are paid out to the player by rotationally driving.

When a large number of medals are paid out to the player, the medals in the hopper tank 10 decrease. When the number of medals in the hopper tank 10 decreases and it becomes necessary to supply medals to the hopper tank 10 from the outside, the manager of the game hall supplies a large number of medals M to the hopper tank 10 from the medal supply port 30. A large number of medals M supplied from the medal supply port 30 each drop on the inclined surface 40 toward the medal discharge port 50.

The medal M falling on the inclined surface 40 flows downward on the medal guide plate 102 provided on the inclined surface, is guided to the medal discharge port 50, and the free end portion 1 of the medal guide plate 102 is guided.
It drops from the tip of 01 to the medal outlet 50. Medal guide plate
When the medals M dropped from 102 gradually accumulate and reach a height position beyond the medal guide plate 102 as shown in FIG. 3, the medals M located on the medal guide plate 102 are It will be in a supporting state.

In this state, the portion of the rotating disk D medal guide plate 102 closed by the free end 101 is
Without the weight of the medal M on the medal guide plate 102 being applied,
Only the weight of the medals M accumulated under the medal guide plate 102 is applied. Therefore, the medal guide plate 10
Since the weight of the medal M on the rotating disk D is reduced as compared with the case where the medal M is not provided so as to be located above the medal discharge port 50, the hopper motor for driving the medal M is easily provided. In addition to being able to rotate, the hopper motor can be stably rotated.

[0026]

Since the present invention is constituted as described above, it has the following effects. Claim 1
According to the inventions of to 3, even if a large number of medals are stored in the hopper tank, the weight due to the weight of the stored medals is dispersed so that the weight of the medals stored on the rotating disk is distributed. The hopper motor can be easily rotated by reducing the load due to
A hopper device that can stably rotate a hopper motor can be provided.

According to the invention of claim 2, in addition to the effect of claim 1 described above, the following effect is exhibited. That is, it is possible to provide a hopper device that can further facilitate the dropping of medals on the guide plate.
According to the invention of claim 3, in addition to the effect of claim 1 or claim 2 described above, the following effect is exhibited.

That is, since the free end of the medal guide plate is located above the medal discharge port so as to close almost half of the medal discharge port, the weight of the medal on the medal guide plate is It is possible to provide a hopper device that can rotate the hopper motor easily and the stable rotation of the hopper motor without the need to cover the rotating disk at the position closed by the guide plate.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a hopper tank.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a hopper tank.

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view of a hopper tank in a medal storage state.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Hopper tank 20 Four-sided wall 21,22 Horizontal side wall 23,24 Vertical side wall 30 Medal supply port 40 Sloping surface 50 Medal discharge port 60 Connection part 61 Annular collar 70 Notch part 80 Medal receiving plate 81 Guide plate 90 Medal outlet 100 Base end Part 101 Free end 102 Medal guide plate D Rotating disc h Disc hole

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A medal supply opening is provided at an upper portion and a medal ejection opening smaller than a medal supply opening is provided at a lower portion, and the medal ejection opening is inclined downwardly between the medal supply opening and the medal ejection opening. A hopper tank having an inclined surface, a rotary disc having a plurality of medal holes facing the medal discharge port of the hopper tank, into which the medals falling from the medal discharge port are fitted, and by rotating the rotary disc. In a hopper device provided with a hopper motor for paying out medals to a player, the inclined surface of the hopper tank has a base end portion fixed to the inclined surface, and a free end portion from the medal discharge port. A hopper provided with a medal guide plate which is apart from the upper side and extends substantially horizontally from the lower end of the inclined surface toward the upper side of the medal discharge port. Location. 2. The hopper device for a gaming machine according to claim 1, wherein the medal guide plate is made of a metal having elasticity. 3. The free end portion of the medal guide plate is located above and apart from the medal discharge port so as to close almost half of the medal discharge port.
A hopper device for the described gaming machine.