JPH09192315A - Prize ball transfer mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable prize balls to be smoothly transferred. SOLUTION: A drum 45 of a discharging device comprises a cylindrical member 46 and sprockets 47 and 48. In the sprockets 47 and 48, a plurality of circular grooves 47a and 48a are formed. The circular grooves 47a and 48a are arranged on both sides in the width direction of a rail groove and each pair of the circular grooves 47a and 48a form a ball receiving part 49. The drum 45 rotates while holding prize balls by the ball receiving parts 49 and the rail groove and the prize balls are sent to the downstream side one by one. When the prize ball collides with the ball receiving part 49, since not the center but both sides of the prize ball collide with the circular grooves 47a and 48a, repulsive force to the opposite direction of the collision direction is extremely small. Consequently, the prize ball does not jump out from the ball receiving part 49 but is held and is sent to the downstream side.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a prize ball delivery mechanism used in a game machine such as a pachinko machine or an arrange ball machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a gaming machine such as a pachinko machine supplies a predetermined number of prize balls to a saucer (upper plate or lower plate) of a game machine when a game ball wins a prize opening provided on a game board. A device is provided. Such a device includes a tank in which game balls as prize balls are stored, a supply path for supplying the prize balls stored in the tank to a tray, and a delivery mechanism provided in the middle of the supply path.

In this delivery mechanism, as shown in FIGS. 12 to 15, a rail (guide) 141 having a width slightly larger than the diameter of the prize ball and a ball receiving portion 149 in the widthwise center of the rail 141 are provided. Placed sprockets (drums)
145 is provided. In this delivery mechanism, when a game ball wins the winning opening of the game board, the motor connected to the shaft of the sprocket 145 is rotationally driven. Then, the sprocket 145 receives the prize ball passing through the rail 141 from the ball receiving portion 1.
While being held at 49, the shaft is rotated and the prize balls are sent from the upstream side to the downstream side one by one. Then, when the number of prize balls delivered to the downstream side reaches a predetermined number, the rotational driving of the motor is stopped, and the sprocket 145 stops the shaft rotation. As a result, a predetermined number of prize balls are supplied from the tank to the saucer of the gaming machine through the delivery mechanism.

[0004]

However, in the above delivery mechanism, the axial rotation of the sprocket 145 may be obstructed by the prize ball. This point will be described with reference to FIGS. 13 is an explanatory diagram when the prize ball collides with the sprocket, FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram when the prize ball collides with the sprocket and then bounces, and FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram after the prize ball recoils. 13B is a sectional view taken along the line P-P of FIG. 13A, and FIG.
15A is a Q-Q sectional view, and FIG. 15B is a RR sectional view of FIG. A sprocket that rotates about its axis 14
When the prize ball from the tank hits the ball receiving portion 149 of No. 5 (see FIG. 13), it bounces in the opposite direction, and the ball receiving portion 149
Sometimes jumped out (see Fig. 14). In this way, when the prize ball bounces, the sprocket 145 continues to rotate by the motor. Therefore, even if the prize ball bounces and returns to the sprocket 145 side, the ball receiving portion 149.
And the rail part 1 and the weir part 149a of the ball receiving part 149.
The prize ball was sometimes caught between the lower surface of 41 (FIG. 15).
reference). When such a situation occurs, the sprocket 14
Since the shaft of 5 cannot rotate, the delivery mechanism fails.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a prize ball delivery mechanism capable of smoothly delivering a prize ball.

[0006]

Means for Solving the Problems and Effects of the Invention In order to solve the above problems, the invention according to claim 1 is a drum provided with a plurality of ball receiving portions along the outer periphery thereof, and from the upstream side to the downstream side of the drum. And a guide extending toward, the drum holds a prize ball that passes through the guide in the ball receiving portion, rotates while holding the prize ball, and sends the prize ball to the downstream side. In the delivery mechanism, the ball receiving portion of the drum holds a portion other than the central portion of the prize ball.

Here, the central portion of the prize ball means a contact point when the prize ball moving from the upstream comes into contact with a virtual surface orthogonal to the moving direction. In the prize ball delivery mechanism of the present invention, even if the prize ball that has moved from the upstream side collides with the ball receiving portion, a portion other than the central portion of the prize ball collides with the ball receiving portion. The force that bounces back to is smaller than when the center part of the prize ball hits the ball receiving part. Therefore, the prize ball does not bounce as much as it jumps out of the ball receiving portion, and is held by the ball receiving portion as it is and sent to the downstream side.

As described above, according to the prize ball delivery mechanism of the present invention, unlike the conventional case, the prize ball does not hit the ball receiving portion and bounce off from the ball receiving portion, so that the prize ball is provided between the guide and the drum. It does not get pinched, and feeding is not blocked. Therefore, it is possible to obtain the effect that the prize balls can be sent out smoothly.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the prize ball delivering mechanism according to the first aspect, wherein the ball receiving portion of the drum does not hold a central portion of the prize ball but holds both side portions thereof. And In the prize ball delivery mechanism of the present invention, even if the prize ball that has moved from the upstream side collides with the ball receiving portion, since both sides of the prize ball collide with the ball receiving portion, most of the bouncing force is opposite to the collision direction. Disperse in directions other than directions.
As a result, the force that bounces in the direction opposite to the collision direction is extremely small compared to the case where the central portion of the prize ball collides with the ball receiving portion. Therefore, the prize ball does not bounce as much as it jumps out of the ball receiving portion, and is held by the ball receiving portion as it is and sent to the downstream side.

As described above, according to the prize ball delivery mechanism of the present invention, the effect of the invention described in claim 1 can be more reliably obtained.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Note that the embodiment of the present invention
It is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments, and can take various forms within the technical scope of the present invention. [Embodiment] FIG. 1 is a front view of a pachinko machine, FIG. 2 is a rear view of the pachinko machine, FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of a payout device, FIG. 4 is a plan view of the payout device, and FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a drum. As shown in FIG. 1, the pachinko machine 1 includes a front frame 2, a metal frame 4 for supporting the glass 3 inside the front frame 2, and a glass 3.
And a game board 5 covered with. Incidentally, this pachinko machine 1 is provided with a saucer (upper plate and lower plate) for storing game balls, a launching operation lever for launching the game balls, and the like, as in a normal pachinko machine. Was omitted.

As shown in FIG. 1, the game board 5 has a starting opening 2
1 (so-called type 1 starting port), special symbol display device 23,
It has a big winning opening 30, a normal winning opening 6, and the like. The starting port 21 is provided at a position slightly below the center of the game board 5 and slightly below the left and right. A starting opening sensor 57 (see FIG. 3) for detecting that a game ball has entered the starting opening 21.
Is provided. The special symbol display device 23 is an LCD and is provided in the approximate center of the game board 5. In order to change the symbol of the special symbol display device 23, it is a condition that the starting port sensor 57 of the starting port 21 is turned on. The special winning opening 30 is selected in either a closed state in which the game ball is not accepted or an open state in which the game ball is easily accepted. The special winning opening 30 is provided with a special winning opening sensor 59 (see FIG. 3) for detecting that a game ball has entered. The normal winning openings 6 are provided on both the left and right sides of the top and the game board 5. The normal winning opening 6 is provided with a normal winning opening sensor 58 (see FIG. 3) for detecting that a game ball has entered.

On the back side of the pachinko machine 1, as shown in FIG. 2, a tank 11, a tank rail 12 and a payout device 4 are provided.
0 (prize ball delivery mechanism of the present invention), prize ball supply rail 1
3 are provided. The tank 11 stores game balls as prize balls. The tank rail 12 guides the prize balls stored in the tank 11 to the payout device 40. The payout device 40 pays out a predetermined number of prize balls from the upstream side to the downstream side. The prize ball supply rail 13 supplies the prize balls paid out to the downstream side to a tray (not shown) provided on the front side of the pachinko machine 1.

The payout device 40, as shown in FIG.
Rail 41 (guide of the present invention), drum 45, motor 5
1, a ball detection sensor 53 and a control device 56. The rail 41 has a width slightly larger than the diameter of the prize ball (see FIG. 4) and extends from the upstream side to the downstream side of the payout device 40. As shown in FIG. 5, the drum 45 includes a cylindrical body 46 and the sprockets 4 provided on both sides of the cylindrical body 46.
It consists of 7, 48. A plurality of arcuate grooves 47a, 48a are formed along the outer circumference of each sprocket 47, 48.
The arc grooves 47a, 48a of each sprocket 47, 48 are provided so as to face each other, and each pair of arc grooves 47a,
48a forms a ball receiving portion 49. The motor 51 is
It is connected to the central axis of the drum 45 and rotates the drum 45. The ball detection sensor 53 is a drum 45.
Is provided on the downstream side of, and detects the prize balls sent one by one from the drum 45, and transmits the detection signal to the control device. The control device 56 receives the detection signals from the starting opening sensor 57, the normal winning opening sensor 58, the special winning opening sensor 59, and the detection signal from the ball detection sensor 53, transmits a driving signal to the motor driving circuit 52, and drives the drum. The rotation of 45 is controlled.

Next, the operation of the pachinko machine 1 will be described with reference to FIGS.
This will be described with reference to FIG. The game ball is the starting opening 2 of the game board 5.
When 1 is won, the starting opening sensor 57 outputs a detection signal to the control device 56. The control device 56 receiving this signal
The drum 45 is rotationally driven to pay out a predetermined number (for example, 7) of prize balls to the tray of the pachinko machine 1, and the symbol change of the special symbol display device 23 is started and then stopped. When the stop symbol of the special symbol display device 23 is a specific symbol (big hit symbol), the control device 56 repeats the operation of opening the special winning opening 30 for a predetermined time (for example, 30 seconds) 16 times. When a game ball wins the special winning opening 30, the special winning opening sensor 59 outputs a detection signal to the control device 56. The control device 56 that receives this signal causes the drum 45 to
Is driven to rotate and a predetermined number (for example, 15) of prize balls are paid out to the tray of the pachinko machine 1. Further, when the game ball wins the normal winning hole 6 of the game board 5, the normal winning hole sensor 58
Outputs a detection signal to the controller 56. Upon receiving this signal, the control device 56 rotationally drives the drum 45 and pays out a predetermined number (for example, 15) of prize balls to the tray of the pachinko machine 1.

The operation of the control device 56 for rotating the drum 45 to pay out a predetermined number of prize balls will now be described. When the control device 56 receives a detection signal from any one of the starting opening sensor 57, the normal winning opening sensor 58, and the special winning opening sensor 59, the control device 56 first drives the motor 51 to rotate through the motor driving circuit 52, thereby rotating the drum. Rotate 45. When the drum 45 rotates and one ball receiving portion 49 reaches a predetermined receiving position (see FIG. 3), the rail 41
The upper prize ball is guided to the ball receiving portion 49 at this receiving position. When the drum 45 further rotates in this state, the prize ball is held between the ball receiving portion 49 and the rail 41 and is sent out to the rail opening 13a on the prize ball supply rail 13 side.
It passes through the ball detection sensor 53. Ball prize sensor 5
When passing 3, the ball detection sensor 53 outputs a detection signal to the control device 56. Control device 56 receiving this signal
Counts up the value of the prize ball counter (for example, one provided in one area of the RAM of the control device 56) by one, then judges whether or not the count value reaches a predetermined number, and reaches the predetermined number. If not, the motor 51 is driven to rotate via the motor drive circuit 52 as it is. On the other hand, when the predetermined number is reached, a stop signal is output to the motor drive circuit 52 to stop the rotation of the motor 51 and stop the rotation of the drum 45. As a result, a predetermined number of prize balls are supplied to the prize ball supply rail 13.
After that, it is paid out to the saucer.

Further, the payout operation will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram when the prize ball collides with the drum, FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram when the prize ball collides with the drum and then bounces, and FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram after the prize ball recoils. 6B is a sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 6A, FIG. 7B is a sectional view taken along the line BB of FIG. 7A, and FIG.
FIG. 8B is a sectional view taken along line CC of FIG. In the payout operation, when the prize ball moving from the tank rail 12 to the rail 41 collides with the ball receiving portion 49 of the drum 45 of the payout device 40 (see FIG. 6), the prize ball is not the central portion Ce but the portions S1 on both sides. , S2 collide with the circular arc grooves 47a and 48a of the ball receiving portion 49. Therefore, the force that bounces in the opposite direction to the collision direction is extremely small compared to the case where the central portion Ce of the prize ball collides with the ball receiving portion. Therefore, the prize ball does not bounce as much as it jumps out of the ball receiving portion 49 (see FIG. 7), and is held by the ball receiving portion 49 as it is and sent to the downstream side (see FIG. 8).

As described above, the payout device 40 of this embodiment
According to the present invention, since the prize ball does not hit the ball receiving part and jump out from the ball receiving part as in the conventional case, the prize ball is not caught between the rail and the drum, and the delivery is not blocked. The effect is obtained. [Modification of the above embodiment] The circular arc grooves 47a, 4a of the above embodiment.
Instead of 8a, grooves 471a and 481a shown in FIG. 9 may be used to hold the prize balls. These grooves 471a and 481a
According to the above, the center portion Ce of the prize ball is not held, and both sides S1 and S2 of the prize ball are held by surface contact (line contact in the above embodiment). These grooves 471a and 481a
Even when the above is used, the same operational effects as those of the above-described embodiment can be obtained.

Further, instead of the drum 45 of the above embodiment,
The drum 451 shown in FIG. 10 may be used. The drum 451 has a hemispherical groove 49 along the outer circumference of the cylindrical body 461.
1 is provided, and a hole 491a is provided at a position of the hemispherical groove 491 that comes into contact with the central portion of the prize ball. Even when this drum 451 is used, the same effect as that of the above-described embodiment can be obtained.

Further, as shown in FIG.
The drums 45 may be arranged in parallel and the rails 41 may be provided with the drums 45. In this case, the same effect as that of the above-described embodiment can be obtained, and in addition to the above-described embodiment, a predetermined number of prize balls can be paid out more quickly.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a pachinko machine of the present embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a rear view of the pachinko machine of this embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a payout device of the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a payout device of the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the drum of this embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram when a prize ball collides with a drum.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram when the prize ball bounces after colliding with the drum.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram after the prize ball bounces off.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory view of a circular arc groove of a modified example.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a modified drum.

FIG. 11 is a plan view of a payout device according to a modified example.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional prize ball delivery mechanism.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional example when a prize ball collides with a drum.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional example when a prize ball collides with a drum and then bounces back.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional example after the prize ball has rebounded.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Pachinko machine, 5 ... Game board, 6
... Normal prize hole, 11 ... Tank, 1
2 ... Tank rail, 13 ... Prize ball supply rail, 21 ... Starting port, 23 ...
Special symbol display device, 30 ...
40 ... Dispensing device, 41 ... Rail,
45 ... drum, 46 ... cylindrical body,
47, 48 ... Sprocket, 47a, 48a
... Arc groove, 49 ... Ball receiving part, 51 ... Motor, 56 ... Control device,

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A drum provided with a plurality of ball receiving portions along an outer circumference thereof, and a guide extending from an upstream side to a downstream side of the drum, wherein the drum receives the prize balls passing through the guide. In a mechanism for sending a prize ball that rotates while holding the prize ball and sends the prize ball to the downstream side, the ball receiving portion of the drum holds a portion other than the central portion of the prize ball. A mechanism for sending out prize balls, which is characterized in that 2. The prize ball delivery mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the ball receiving portion of the drum does not hold a central part of the prize ball but holds both side parts of the prize ball.