JPH1080528A - Pinball game machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily set a reference rotation position of a ball hitting motor by deciding the reference rotation position of the ball hitting motor based on the rotation position where an overcurrent is detected, when the ball hitting motor is rotated reversely in turning on the power and the overcurrent generated in stopping the reverse rotation is detected. SOLUTION: In normal rotation of a ball hitting motor, after a ball hitting rod 18 is swung inverse to the hitting direction by downward pressing force of a cam 20 provided in its rotary shaft, the ball hitting rod 18 is swung in the hitting direction by a spring force wound around a core 22 so that a pachinko ball is springily. When the ball hitting motor is rotated revesely and the cam 20 is rotate reversely, the straight edge part 20b of the cam 20 is brought in contact with a drive pin 22a so that the rotation reverse to the cam 20 is obstructed. Then, overcurrent flows through the ball hitting motor and the ball hitting motor is stepped out so that, when the overcurrent is detected and the step-out of the ball hitting motor is detected, the position separated from the step-out position by a prescribed rotation distance is set as a reference rotation position.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a ball game machine typified by a pachinko game machine, a coin game machine, and the like, and more particularly, to hitting a ball into a game area by a hit ball launching device provided with a hitting motor. The present invention relates to a ball-and-ball game machine that is fired to play a game.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A hit ball launching device provided with a hitting motor capable of performing forward rotation and reverse rotation is generally used as a conventional ball game machine of this type to play a ball. There was a ball game machine in which a game was played by firing a bullet in an area.

[0003] The rotating operation of the hit ball motor is converted into a firing operation of a firing mechanism that fires a hit ball each time the hit motor rotates once in the forward rotation direction. Therefore, the ball is fired each time the ball motor rotates once. A stepping motor is mainly used as a hitting motor for such a ball game machine. The hitting motor is driven while its rotational position is controlled by a control circuit of the motor. Also, in a conventional ball game machine, if an overcurrent flows into such a ball-hitting motor, the ball-hitting motor may be damaged. Therefore, a circuit for detecting the overcurrent is provided. When the current is detected, control for ensuring safety, such as resetting the operation of the control circuit of the hit ball motor, has been performed.

[0004] Conventionally, a configuration has been employed in which a hitting ball firing device fires a hitting ball when a hitting motor rotates to a predetermined rotation position. Therefore, in order to stabilize the hitting operation such as firing a hit ball for a fixed time after the start of starting of the hitting motor, conventionally, a reference position (hereinafter, referred to as a reference rotation position) of a rotation position of the hitting motor is used. There is a case where the rotation of the hitting motor is set using the reference rotation position as the origin.

[0005] Such setting of the reference rotational position has been performed, for example, as follows. A ball game machine is provided with a position sensor for detecting the operating position of a hitting rod (hitting hammer) that swings in conjunction with a hitting motor in order to fire a hitting ball. The reference rotation position of the hitting motor is set based on the operating position of the hitting rod detected by the position sensor.

[0006]

However, in a conventional ball game machine in which the reference rotation position of the hit ball motor is set using the above-described position sensor, a position sensor having no other use must be newly provided. No. Therefore, in such a conventional ball game machine, there is a problem that the structure needs to be changed and the number of parts increases.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to easily set the reference rotation position of the ball hitting motor without changing the structure and increasing the number of parts. Is to provide a simple ball-and-game machine.

[0008]

According to the present invention, there is provided a ball game machine in which a ball is shot and fired in a game area by a hit ball firing device provided with a hit ball motor. A reverse rotation preventing means for preventing the reverse rotation at a predetermined position when the hitting motor is reversely rotated;
Overcurrent detection means for detecting that the drive current supplied to the hitting motor has exceeded a predetermined value; and at least when the power is turned on, the hitting motor is reversely rotated to prevent the reverse rotation. When an overcurrent generated due to the reverse rotation being prevented by the means is detected by the overcurrent detecting means, a reference rotational position of the hitting motor is determined based on the rotational position at which the overcurrent is detected. Reference rotation position determining means, and including, at the start of firing of a hit ball, a hitting motor control means for performing control to start forward rotation of the hitting motor from the reference rotation position determined by the reference rotation position determining means. It is characterized by.

[0009]

The reverse rotation preventing means prevents the reverse rotation of the hitting motor at a predetermined position when the motor is reversely rotated. By the function of the overcurrent detecting means, it is detected that the driving current supplied to the hit ball motor has become an overcurrent exceeding a predetermined value. By the operation of the reference rotation position determining means, at least when the power is turned on, the hit ball motor is rotated in the reverse direction, and when the overcurrent generated by the reverse rotation being prevented by the reverse rotation prevention means is detected by the overcurrent detection means. The reference rotation position of the hitting motor is determined based on the rotation position where the overcurrent is detected. By the operation of the hitting ball motor control means, when starting to fire the hit ball, control is performed to start the forward rotation of the hitting motor from the reference rotation position determined by the reference rotation position determination means.

As described above, when the reverse rotation of the hitting motor is prevented by the reverse rotation preventing means, the load of the hitting motor increases, and an overcurrent flows through the hitting motor. The rotational position at which such an overcurrent is detected is the rotational position at which the reverse rotation of the hitting motor is prevented by the reverse rotation preventing means. Since the reference rotation position of the hit ball motor is determined based on the rotation position at which the overcurrent is detected, the reference rotation position is set to a constant rotation position. At the start of firing of the ball, the normal rotation of the ball motor starts from the reference rotation position determined in such a manner, so that when a player performs a ball operation, the ball is always hit with a constant response time. Fired. The overcurrent detecting means is conventionally provided in the ball game machine in order to prevent the damage of the hitting motor, and the reference rotating position of the hitting motor is determined by using such conventionally provided means. Is performed.

[0011]

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the following embodiments, a pachinko game machine is shown as an example of a ball game machine, but the present invention is not limited to this, and may be a coin game machine or the like, provided with a ball hitting motor. The present invention can be applied to all the ball game machines in which the game is performed by hitting the ball into the game area by the hit ball firing device.

FIG. 1 is an overall front view showing a pachinko game machine as an example of a ball game machine according to the present invention.

The gaming machine 1 has a hit ball adjustment handle 11 at the lower right corner. When the player rotates the hit ball adjustment handle 11, pachinko balls are driven one by one into a game area formed on the front surface of the game board unit 2. A frame lamp 13 is provided around the game board 2.

A glass frame 3 having left and right speakers 6 for generating sound effects is mounted on the game board 2 of the gaming machine 1, and a front frame 4 is provided below the glass frame 3.
It is installed to be able to open and close.

The front frame 4 includes a glass frame 3 and a front frame 4.
A key 5 for locking the opening and closing of the sphere is provided, and an upper plate 7 for storing prize balls is provided at the center. A lower plate 8 is provided below the upper plate 7, and by operating the upper plate ball removal lever 12, the prize balls stored in the upper plate 7 flow down to the lower plate 8 and are stored. The prize balls in the lower plate 8 flow downward by operating the lower ball removal lever 9. In the figure, reference numeral 10 denotes an ashtray.

Next, the hitting ball adjusting handle 11 will be described in detail. FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a main part for describing the structure of the hit ball adjustment handle 11. FIG. 3 is an enlarged front view showing the internal structure of the hit ball adjustment handle 11. Hereinafter, the structure of the hit ball adjustment handle will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.

When the player (operator) grips the handle portion 14 and rotates the operation portion 15, the rotating body B26 rotates, and the rotation of the rotating body B26 is controlled by the wire 27 to the rotating body A2.
5 is transmitted. The operation unit 15 is urged toward the stop position, and automatically returns to the stop position when the player releases his / her hand from the operation unit 15.

The hitting force adjusting gear 19 is fitted concentrically with the rotating body A25, and the turning force of the rotating body A25 is transmitted to the hitting force adjusting gear 19 side. In the hit ball spring unit 21, the spring 23 is provided inside the unit core 22.
Is provided. The striking force adjusting gear 19 is engaged with teeth formed on the outer peripheral surface of the striking ball spring unit 21, and the amount of torsional deformation of the spring 23 changes with the rotation of the striking force adjusting gear 19. Then, as the amount of rotation operation of the operation unit 15 increases, the amount of torsional deformation of the spring 23 also increases, and the restoring force of the spring 23 increases.

A cam 20 which is rotated by the rotational force of the ball motor 17 is attached to the drive shaft of the ball motor 17. The cam 20 has a curved edge portion 20a formed in an arc shape.
And a linear edge portion 20b formed linearly. The cam 20 rotates with the curved edge portion 20a as a traveling direction when the ball hitting motor 17 is rotated forward to shoot a hit ball, and the ball hitting motor 17 is rotated for setting a reference rotation position (described in detail later). When rotated in the reverse direction, it rotates with the side of the straight edge portion 20b as the traveling direction.

The striking spring unit 21 is provided with an operating plate 22b which is rotated by the urging force of the rotation of the cam 20 outside the unit core 22. This operation plate 22
b is provided integrally with the swing shaft of the hitting rod 18. When the operation plate 22b rotates, the hitting rod 18 swings.
An operating pin 22a that can abut a part of the cam 20 is provided at a distal end of the operating plate 22b.

When the ball hitting motor 17 rotates forward, the operating pin 22a is pushed down by the cam 20 by the rotational force when the ball hitting motor 17 rotates forward, so that the operating plate 22b of the ball hitting spring unit 21 rotates. Then, at the moment when the contact of the cam 20 that pushes down the operation pin 22a to the operation pin 22a is released, the operation plate 22b returns to the original posture by the restoring force of the spring 23. As the operating plate 22b swings, the hitting rod 18 swings integrally with the operating plate 22b. In other words, the striking rod 18 swings in the direction opposite to the driving direction by the pressing force of the cam 20 to perform back swinging, and the restoring force of the spring 23 swings the striking rod 18 in the striking direction. A ball is fired.

On the other hand, when the ball motor 17 rotates in the reverse direction, the cam 20 rotates in the reverse direction, and the straight edge 20b of the cam 20 comes into contact with the driving pin 22a. In this case, the structure of the spring 23 prevents the cam 20 from rotating in the opposite direction. Such a state in which the rotation of the cam 20 in the reverse direction is prevented is shown by the state of the cam 20 indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. Thus, when the reverse rotation of the cam 20 is prevented, the reverse rotation of the ball hitting motor 17 is stopped, and an overcurrent flows through the ball hitting motor 17. Then, the reverse rotation of the hit ball motor 17 is stopped.

Hitting motor 17 and hitting spring unit 2
A structure for launching a hit ball such as 1 is mounted on a mounting board 101. Further, in the vicinity of the mounting board 101,
A ball supply device 100 is provided for supplying hit balls one by one toward a hitting ball firing portion of the hitting rod 18.

As described above, since the restoring force of the spring 23 is adjusted in accordance with the amount of rotation of the operating portion 15, as a result, the swinging power of the striking rod 18 in the driving direction is also adjusted, and the pachinko ball is adjusted. Is adjusted.

The operation unit 15 includes a touch switch 16
Is fixedly provided. When the player touches the touch switch 16, the touch detection signal is transmitted to the circuit housing 2.
4 is input. The circuit housing section 24 is provided with various circuits to be described later, and controls the operation of the hit ball motor 17 based on the touch detection signal.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the hitting board 65 provided in the circuit housing section 24 of FIG. Hitting board 65
Includes a touch circuit section 28, a lamp circuit section 29, a microcomputer (microcomputer) 30 for performing hit ball control,
A motor drive unit 66 for controlling the driving of the ball hitting motor 17 and a step-out detecting unit 67 for detecting that the ball hitting motor 17 has lost step
And

The hitting board 65 further receives AC 24 V from a commercial power supply, applies a voltage of, for example, 5 V to the touch circuit section 28, the microcomputer 30, the lamp circuit 29, and the step-out detecting section 67, and supplies a voltage of 30 V to the motor drive. The power supply circuit section 31 provided to the section 66 is included.

The touch circuit section 28 includes the touch switch 16
Touch switch 16 based on the touch detection signal from
In order to detect whether or not the player's hand is touching the microcomputer 30, and to provide a detection signal to that effect to the microcomputer 30. As will be described later, the step-out detecting unit 67 detects an abnormality (overcurrent) in the drive current for driving the ball motor 17 and detects an abnormality in the excitation state of the coil of the ball motor 17. The stepping motor 17 detects that the stepping motor 17 has stepped out, and supplies the microcomputer 30 with a step-out detection signal as a detection signal.

The microcomputer 30 performs predetermined processing including a motor control processing described later, and controls the motor driving section 66 and the lamp circuit section 29. For example, the microcomputer 30
Is based on a touch detection signal from the touch circuit unit 28, controls the motor drive unit 66 to rotate the hitting motor 17 when the player is touching the touch switch 16, and otherwise drives the motor. By controlling the section 66, the hitting motor 17 is stopped. Further, the microcomputer 30 is configured to control the lamp circuit unit 2 when the ball hitting motor 17 is rotating.
A lamp output is given to 9 to turn on the lamp 33. The microcomputer 30 supplies a positive rotation drive pulse to the motor drive unit 66 when the hitting motor 17 rotates forward,
On the other hand, when the ball motor 17 is rotated in the reverse direction, a reverse rotation drive pulse is applied to the motor drive unit 66. The motor driving unit 66 rotates the hitting motor 17 forward and backward according to the type of the pulse signal given from the microcomputer 30.

FIG. 5A shows the details of the touch circuit section 28. The touch circuit unit 28 includes resistors 34, 35, 38,
39, 41 and 42, a capacitor 36, a Zener diode 37, a variable resistor 40, and NOR gates 43 and 44 constituting a flip-flop. The touch circuit section 28 further has a firing device switch 68 provided in the handle section 14 and including a normally closed contact. As described above, when the player releases his / her hand from the operation unit 15, the operation unit 15 automatically returns to the stop position and presses the firing device switch 68. As a result, the contact is opened and the power supply circuit unit 31 is turned off. Hitting board 65 shown in FIG.
Since the power is supplied from the power supply circuit unit 31 to the respective circuit units, the firing device switch 68 is pressed and the contact is opened to stop the hitting operation. The wiring connected from the launcher switch 68 to the power supply circuit unit 31 includes:
The capacitor 45 is connected.

A clock signal having a duty ratio of about 50% is supplied from the microcomputer 30 to one end of the resistor 41 and a connection point between the resistor 38 and the variable resistor 40. Touch circuit part 2
8 is already well-known, and its operation will be briefly described below.

The NOR gates 43 and 44 constituting the flip-flop are composed of, for example, CMOS, and when a player touches the touch switch 16, noise due to static electricity or the like charged by the player is directly generated. , NOR gates 43 and 44 may be destroyed. The resistors 34 and 35, the capacitor 36 and the Zener diode 37 are provided with a NOR gate 43 made of CMOS by removing such noise components.
And 44 are to be protected.

The set terminal of the flip-flop composed of the NOR gates 43 and 44 is an input on the NOR gate 43 side, and the reset terminal is an input on the NOR gate 44 side.

The variable resistor 40 is set in advance so that the input voltage to the NOR gate 43 becomes higher than the input voltage to the NOR gate 44. In this state, it is assumed that the player does not touch the touch switch 16.

At this time, when the clock signal supplied from the microcomputer 30 to the touch circuit section 28 becomes high level, the current does not flow to the capacitor 36 side. NO
Given that the R gates 43 and 44 have the same capacitance, the voltage at the input of NOR gate 43 is NOR
Since the voltage is higher than the voltage at the input to the gate 44, the output of the NOR gate 43 first falls to low level, and the signal output from the NOR gate 44 to the microcomputer 30 becomes high level. Thereafter, the output of the NOR gate 44 immediately goes low, and the signal to the microcomputer 30 also goes low. That is, when one pulse of the clock signal is applied, the output of the flip-flop is first set by the NOR gate 43 and immediately reset by the NOR gate 44. At this time, the signal output from the flip-flop is a pulse train having a duty ratio of about 10:90.

It is assumed that the player is touching the touch switch 16 with his hand. In this case, when a clock signal is input from the microcomputer 30, the current flows through the capacitor 36
Is charged. Therefore, the time when the set terminal of the flip-flop including the NOR gates 43 and 44 is at a high level is delayed. At this time, if the value of the capacitor 36 is selected so that the voltage waveform of the reset terminal goes high before the set terminal goes high, the output of the flip-flop is first set after reset, and The order of the set and the reset is opposite to the case where the player does not touch the touch switch 16. As a result, the output of the flip-flop has a larger duty ratio. For example, in this embodiment, the duty ratio in this case is about 50%.

On the side of the microcomputer 30 receiving the output of the flip-flop, the output of the flip-flop is smoothed, and when the smoothed voltage is higher than a predetermined threshold, the player places his hand on the touch switch. It is determined that the player is touching, and when the threshold is lower than the threshold, it is determined that the player does not touch the touch switch 16.

Next, referring to FIG.
7 will be described. The step-out detecting unit 67 includes the resistors 46 and 4
7 and 48, a capacitor 49, and an IC 50 serving as a comparator, an overcurrent detection circuit section for detecting that an overcurrent is flowing in the ball hitting motor 17, and a motor coil including other circuit elements. And a circuit for detecting an abnormality in the ball hit control by detecting an excitation state of the ball.

The resistor 46 is supplied with a current for driving the hit ball motor 17 from the motor driving unit 66.
The current amount is converted into a voltage value by the capacitor 6 and the capacitor 49 and supplied to one input of the IC 50. IC50
A reference voltage obtained by voltage division by the resistors 47 and 48 is input to the other input of. When the current from the motor drive unit 66 is large, the input voltage applied to the IC 50 becomes low. Therefore, when this voltage becomes lower than the reference voltage, it is determined that an overcurrent is flowing to the hitting motor 17. I do. At this time, the IC 50 changes its output to a low level. When the out-of-step detection signal, which is the output signal of the out-of-step detection unit 67, changes to a low level during the normal driving of the hit ball motor 17, the microcomputer 30
Reset your own actions.

On the other hand, the operation for detecting whether or not the excitation state of the coil of the ball motor 17 is abnormal is performed as follows. The input on the diode 52 side includes a motor drive 66
The voltage of the coil is input from. In a normal state, this voltage changes so that, for example, +30 V and the ground potential are alternately and periodically taken. For example, when this voltage becomes +30 V, the capacitor 53 is charged via the resistor 51 from the power supply voltage of 5 V. When the coil voltage drops to the ground potential, a current flows through the diode 52, and the capacitor 53 is discharged. Therefore, in a normal state, the capacitor 53 repeats charging and discharging regularly. The other end of the capacitor 53 is connected to a base electrode of the PNP transistor 54. If the values of the resistor 51 and the capacitor 53 are selected so that the transistor 54 does not turn off even when the capacitor 53 is charged most, the transistor 54 is always on in a normal state. The contact point between the capacitor 55 and the resistor 57 on the right side of the transistor 54 is connected to the 5 V power supply on the left side of the transistor 54, and the voltage applied to the NOR gate 59 via the resistor 56 is at a high level.

The NOR gates 59 and 63, the diode 60, the resistors 58, 61 and 62, and the capacitor 6
4 constitutes an oscillation circuit, which does not oscillate when the input to the NOR gate 59 is at a high level, and the output from the oscillation circuit is always at a high level.
As long as the microcomputer 30 is operating normally, the microcomputer 30 is not reset by the step-out detection signal output from the oscillation circuit during the normal driving of the hitting motor 17.

On the other hand, consider a case in which the microcomputer 30 runs away and an abnormality occurs in the hit ball control. For example, consider a case where the coil voltage is fixed at +30 V as a result of the abnormality. In this case, the capacitor 53 is connected to the
Charged by the V power supply, the transistor 54 is turned off.
No current is supplied to the right side of the transistor 54, and the input voltage to the NO gate 59 becomes low level. When the input voltage to the NOR gate 59 goes low, the oscillation circuit composed of the NOR gates 59 and 63 outputs a pulse-like signal that periodically goes high and low. Therefore, the microcomputer 30 resets its own operation in response to the low level of this signal. The resistors 61 and 62 and the diode 60 are for shortening a low-level reset pulse output by the oscillation circuit. The diode 69 is
When the output of the NOR gate 63 is at the high level, the output of the NOR gate 63 does not adversely affect the low-level out-of-step detection signal output from other circuits.

Next, consider the case where the coil voltage is fixed to ground. In this case, when the capacitor 53 is completely discharged, the base current of the transistor 54 disappears, and the transistor 54 is in a non-conductive state. NO
The input voltage to the R gate 59 becomes low level, and +30
As in the case where the coil voltage is fixed to V, the reset pulse is repeatedly generated by the oscillation circuit.

Thus, the step-out detecting section 67 outputs an output signal when an overcurrent is supplied to the hitting motor 17 or when an abnormality in the excitation state of the coil of the hitting motor 17 is detected. By setting a certain step-out detection signal to low level, it is indicated that the ball hitting motor 17 has stepped out.

As described above, when the player releases his / her hand from the operation unit 15, the operation unit 15 automatically returns to the stop position and presses the firing device switch 68. Open and the power supply circuit unit 31 is turned off.
Therefore, as long as the operation unit 15 is in a normal state, the game automatically stops, for example, when the player leaves his / her seat in front of the gaming machine 1 and releases his / her hand from the operation unit 15. But,
If the operation unit 15 is fixed with a coin, for example,
Even if the player releases his / her hand from the operation unit 15, the operation unit 15 does not return to the stop position and the contact of the firing device switch 68 does not open, so that the power supply circuit unit 31 is not turned off. If an abnormality occurs in the excitation state of the coil of the ball motor 17 in this state, the conventional apparatus cannot return to a normal state. Moreover, even if it is detected that the ball hitting motor 17 has stopped, and the step-out detection signal supplied to the microcomputer 30 is set to a low level, the microcomputer 30 is reset,
After that, if the hitting motor 17 is stopped again due to the abnormality, the microcomputer 30 is reset again because the out-of-step detection signal supplied to the microcomputer 30 has already become low level. Can not. As a result, it is not possible to stop the abnormality of the hit ball control, and there is a fear that the abnormal hit ball control may be continued until a player or the like notices.

However, in the gaming machine according to this embodiment, the coil voltage from the motor drive unit 66 is fixed to the ground when the ball hitting motor 17 is not operating despite the firing device switch 68 being on. Therefore, a low-level out-of-step signal is output to the microcomputer 30 periodically (at the timing when the above-described oscillation circuit outputs a low level in this embodiment). Similarly, with the launcher switch 68 turned on,
When the out-of-step detecting unit 67 detects an abnormality in the excitation state of the coil of the hitting motor 17, it can repeatedly generate a low-level out-of-step detection signal and supply it to the microcomputer 30. Operation unit 1
Even if an abnormality occurs repeatedly in the hit ball control in a state where 5 is fixed with a coin or the like, a remarkable effect that the microcomputer 30 can be surely reset and returned to the normal hit ball control state each time. To play. Also, when the excitation state of the coil of the ball hitting motor 17 becomes abnormal while the player is operating the operation unit 15 as usual, the microcomputer 30 is immediately reset without any manual resetting operation. Therefore, the hit ball control can be returned to normal without the player noticing that such an abnormality has occurred, and there is also an effect that the interest of the game is not reduced.

Next, the content of the control of the hit ball motor 17 executed by the microcomputer 30 will be described. The control of the hitting motor 17 is performed by executing a motor control process in the microcomputer 30. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the processing content of the motor control processing.

Referring to FIG. 6, first, in step S (hereinafter simply referred to as S) 1, it is determined whether or not the power has been turned on. If it is determined in S1 that the power is not turned on, the process proceeds to S2, and the normal driving process is executed. This normal driving process is a subroutine for driving the hit ball motor 17 in a normal state after the power is turned on. The details of the normal driving process will be described later with reference to FIG. After the end of S2, the process returns to S1.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S1 that the power has been turned on, the flow advances to step S3 to execute a reference position setting process. This reference position setting processing is a subroutine for setting a reference position (reference rotation position) for the rotation of the motor. The processing contents of the reference position setting processing are shown in FIG.
Will be described later. After the end of S3, the process proceeds to S2.

Next, the contents of the normal driving process will be described. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the processing content of the normal drive processing.

First, in S4, it is determined whether or not the touch switch 16 is in the ON state (the state in which the player is touching the touch switch 16) based on the touch detection signal supplied from the touch circuit section 28. Done. If it is determined in S4 that the touch switch 16 is not in the ON state, the process proceeds to S7 described below. On the other hand, if it is determined in S4 that the touch switch 16 is in the ON state, the process proceeds to S5.
To determine whether or not the out-of-step detection signal is at a low level.
A determination is made as to whether step out of 7 has been detected. If it is determined in step S5 that step-out has not been detected (the step-out detection signal is at a high level), the process proceeds to step S8 described below. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S5 that the step-out has been detected (if the step-out detection signal is at a low level), the process proceeds to step S6, where the operation of the microcomputer 30 itself is reset. After S6, the normal driving process ends. As described above, when the step-out is detected, the operation of the microcomputer 30 itself is reset, so that the damage to the ball hitting motor 17 due to the occurrence of an overcurrent or the like is prevented, and the execution of the abnormal firing operation of the ball is prevented. Can be prevented. When the microcomputer 30 is reset, the next program execution is performed in step S1 of FIG.
It is determined that the power is turned on, and the process proceeds to a reference position setting process in S3 described later.

In S7, which proceeds when it is determined that the touch switch 16 is not in the ON state, it is determined whether or not the value of the position counter is "0". Here, the position counter is a counter for counting the rotational position of the ball hitting motor 17, and indicates a rotational position of the ball hitting motor 17 in the forward rotation direction (rotation direction at the time of hitting the ball) with "0" as a reference position. It is. The reference rotation position of the position counter is set by a reference position setting process described later.

If it is determined in step S7 that the value of the position counter is not "0", the process proceeds to step S8, which will be described later, in order to match the stop position of the hit ball motor 17 with the reference rotation position.
On the other hand, if it is determined in step S7 that the value of the position counter is "0", the stop position of the ball hitting motor 17 matches the reference rotation position.
7, it is determined whether or not the step-out of the hit ball motor 17 has been detected. If it is determined in step S16 that step-out has not been detected, the normal driving process ends. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S16 that step-out has been detected, the process proceeds to step S17, and a process of resetting control data other than the position counter data is performed. Thereafter, the normal driving process ends.

Thus, the player can adjust the hit ball adjusting handle 1
When the stepping motor 17 is detected out of step when the touch switch 16 is not touched and the ball motor 17 is at the reference rotation position, the data of the normal position counter is left and other controls are performed. The data is reset. Therefore, in this case, the reference rotation position of the hit ball motor 17 is not reset. Therefore, when the touch switch 16 is turned on again, the position counter =
0, that is, from the reference rotation position,
7 starts driving.

In S8, it is determined whether or not the timer 1 is operating. This timer 1 is a timer used for defining the oscillation cycle of the forward rotation drive pulse of the hit ball motor 17. Specifically, using this timer 1,
The operating speed of the hit ball motor 17 during the forward rotation is defined. S
If it is determined that the timer 1 is operating by 9
The process proceeds to S10 described later. On the other hand, if it is determined in S8 that the timer 1 is not operating, the process proceeds to S9, and a process of starting the timer 1 is performed. Thereafter, the process proceeds to S10.

At S10, it is determined whether the value of the timer 1 has reached the first predetermined value. This first predetermined value is set in advance to the oscillation cycle of the positive rotation drive pulse. If it is determined in S10 that the timer 1 has not reached the first predetermined value, the normal driving process ends. On the other hand, when it is determined in S10 that the value of the timer 1 has reached the first predetermined value, the process proceeds to S11, and a process of oscillating one forward rotation drive pulse is performed. That is, one forward rotation drive pulse is oscillated every time the value of the timer 1 reaches the first predetermined value. Thereby, the hit ball motor 17
Is rotated by a predetermined amount (a predetermined rotation angle) in the forward rotation direction. Therefore, for example, the larger the first predetermined value determined in S10 becomes, the longer the oscillation cycle of the positive rotation drive pulse becomes, and the lower the driving speed of the hit ball motor 17 becomes.

Next, the process proceeds to S12, where processing for resetting the value of the timer 1 is performed. Thereafter, the process proceeds to S13, where a process of adding and updating the value of the position counter by “1” is performed. That is, the value of the position counter is updated in accordance with the rotational position of the ball motor 17. Next, the process proceeds to S14, and it is determined whether or not the value of the position counter has exceeded the maximum value (MAX). An upper limit value (maximum value MAX) is predetermined for the value of the position counter. That is, the rotational position of the hitting motor 17 which is a stepping motor is
This is because the position of the position counter needs to be reset to “0” when the ball hitting motor 17 makes one rotation from the reference rotation position and returns to the original position.

If it is determined in S14 that the value of the position counter does not exceed the maximum value, it is not necessary to reset the position counter, and this normal driving process ends. On the other hand, if it is determined in S14 that the value of the position counter has exceeded the maximum value, it is necessary to reset the position counter, so the process proceeds to S15, and processing for resetting the value of the position counter to "0" is performed. Thereafter, the normal driving process ends.

As described above, the rotational position of the hitting motor 17 is controlled with the reference rotational position at which the value of the position counter is "0" as the origin. The reference rotation position is set by the following reference position setting processing. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the processing contents of the reference position setting processing.

First, in S18, a process for starting the time counting operation of the timer 2 is performed. This timer 2 is a timer used for defining the oscillation cycle of the reverse rotation drive pulse of the hit ball motor 17. Using this timer 2, the operating speed of the motor at the time of reverse rotation is defined. next,
Proceeding to S19, it is determined whether the value of the timer 2 has reached the second predetermined value. This second predetermined value is set in advance to the oscillation cycle of the reverse rotation drive pulse. Specifically, the second predetermined value is set to a value (long time) larger than the first predetermined value for the determination of the timer 1 described above. If it is determined in S19 that the timer 2 has not reached the second predetermined value, the determination is repeated until the timer 2 reaches the second predetermined value.

On the other hand, if it is determined in S19 that the value of the timer 2 has reached the second predetermined value, the process proceeds to S20, in which a process for oscillating one reverse rotation drive pulse is performed.
That is, the reverse rotation drive pulse is oscillated by one pulse each time the value of the timer 2 reaches the second predetermined value. This allows
The hitting motor 17 is rotated in a reverse direction by a predetermined amount (a predetermined rotation angle), and the cam 20 is reversely rotated in such a manner that the straight edge portion 20b is directed to the operating pin 22a. The second predetermined value for determining the value of timer 2 is the first predetermined value for determining the value of timer 1.
, The oscillation cycle of the reverse rotation drive pulse is longer than the oscillation cycle of the forward rotation drive pulse. That is, the rotation speed of the ball hitting motor 17 is set to be slower at the time of reverse rotation than at the time of normal rotation. This is because, at the time of reverse rotation, the ball hitting motor 17 always loses synchronism, so that the instantaneous overcurrent is suppressed relatively small, and the load on the ball hitting motor 17 is reduced.

Next, the program proceeds to S22, in which it is determined whether or not the step-out detection unit 67 has detected step-out of the hit ball motor. This judgment is similar to the above-described S5. When the hitting motor 17 is rotated in the reverse direction, the straight edge portion 20b of the cam 20 comes into contact with the operating portion 22a, and the rotation of the cam 20 is prevented. Along with this, the reverse rotation of the ball hitting motor 17 is prevented, and the ball hitting motor 17 steps out. When the hitting motor 17 steps out in this way, an overcurrent flows through the hitting motor 17. Therefore, the stepping out of the hitting motor 17 indicates that the stepping out detecting section 67 can detect the overcurrent of the hitting motor 17.
From the step-out detection unit 67 and the
A low-level out-of-synchronization signal indicating that the out-of-synchronization of No. 7 has been detected is supplied to the microcomputer 30.

Next, the process proceeds to S23, in which a process for starting the time counting operation of the timer 1 is performed. As in the case of the normal driving process described above, the operating speed of the hitting motor during forward rotation is defined based on the value of the timer 1. Next, S2
Proceeding to 4, it is determined whether the value of the timer 1 has reached the first predetermined value. This first predetermined value is set in advance to the oscillation cycle of the positive rotation drive pulse, as in the case of the normal drive process described above. When it is determined in S24 that the value of the timer 1 has not reached the first predetermined value, the determination is repeated until the timer 1 reaches the first predetermined value.

On the other hand, if it is determined in S24 that the value of the timer 1 has reached the first predetermined value, the process proceeds to S25, in which a process for oscillating one forward rotation driving pulse is performed.
That is, as in the case of the normal driving process described above, one pulse of the forward rotation driving pulse is oscillated every time the value of the timer 1 reaches the first predetermined value. Thereby, the hit ball motor 17
Is rotated forward by a predetermined amount (a predetermined rotation angle). Next, S26
Then, the processing of resetting the value of the timer 1 to "0" is performed.

Then, the process advances to S27 for performing processing for incrementing and updating the step counter by "1". That is,
The value of the step counter is added and updated in accordance with the rotational position of the hitting motor. This step counter is a counter that indicates the amount of rotation from the position where the stepping-out position of the ball-hitting motor 17 is set to the origin (0) when the ball-hitting motor 17 is rotated in the reverse direction after being rotated as described above.

Next, the process proceeds to S28, where it is determined whether or not the value of the step counter has reached the third predetermined value. In this case, the third predetermined value is set in advance to a count value corresponding to a rotation position that has been rotated by a predetermined amount (a predetermined rotation angle) in the forward rotation direction from the step-out position of the hit ball motor 17. A rotation position rotated by a predetermined amount (predetermined rotation angle) in the forward rotation direction from the step-out position of the hitting motor 17 is set as a reference rotation position of the hitting motor 17. If the time from when the player operates the hit ball adjusting handle 11 to when the hit ball motor 17 makes one revolution and the hit ball is fired is too long, the player feels uncomfortable, so A rotation position separated by a predetermined rotation amount (a predetermined rotation angle) from the adjustment position is set as a reference rotation position.

Next, the process proceeds to S29, where a process of resetting the position counter to "0" is performed. As a result, a position separated by a predetermined rotation amount (predetermined rotation angle) from the step-out position of the ball hit motor 17 is set as a reference rotation position, and that position becomes a position “0” which is a reference position of the position counter. Thereafter, the reference position setting processing ends.

In this case, the rotation position separated by a predetermined rotation amount (predetermined rotation angle) from the out-of-step position of the ball hitting motor 17 is set as the reference rotation position. The step-out position may be set as the reference position. Further, the reference position setting process described above is performed only when the power is turned on, but is not limited to this, and may be periodically performed after the power is turned on.

By performing the processing described above, the following effects can be obtained. By detecting an overcurrent, a step-out of the ball-hitting motor 17 is detected, and when the ball-hitting motor 17 is rotated in the reverse direction, the reference rotation of the normal rotation of the ball-hitting motor is determined based on the rotational position where the step-out of the ball-hitting motor 17 is detected. The position is set. Such overcurrent detection is conventionally performed to prevent damage to the hitting motor 17 during normal rotation, as is also performed in the normal driving process of FIG. The key detection section 67 is also conventionally provided. Therefore, by setting the reference rotation position of the hitting ball motor 17 using the detection of the overcurrent which has been conventionally performed, the hitting ball motor 17 can be easily adjusted without changing the structure of the pachinko gaming machine and adding components. A reference rotation position for control can be set. As a conventional ball game machine for setting a reference rotation position of a hitting motor, there is a conventional ball game machine that sets a reference rotation position of a hitting motor using a torque sensor. Specifically, a torque sensor for detecting the torque of the hit ball motor is provided in the ball game machine, and the reference rotation position of the hit ball motor is set based on the torque detected by the torque sensor. However, such a torque sensor has no use other than to detect the torque of the hit ball motor. Therefore, in the conventional ball game machine that sets the reference rotation position of the hitting motor using such a torque sensor, it is necessary to change the structure and increase the number of parts by newly providing the torque sensor. Unlike the gaming machine according to this embodiment, it is not possible to easily set the reference rotation position of the ball hitting motor without changing the structure or increasing the number of parts. For this reason, in the gaming machine according to the present embodiment, the setting of the reference rotation position of the ball hitting motor has a new effect that cannot be obtained with the conventional ball game machine that sets the reference rotation position of the ball hitting motor using a torque sensor. It is obtained.

Further, at the time of the reverse rotation of the hitting motor 17 for setting the reference rotation position for the control of the hitting motor 17, the speed of the hitting motor 17 is controlled to be lower than at the time of the normal forward rotation. When the reference rotation position is set, the load on the hitting motor 17 can be reduced.
Further, if the speed of the ball hitting motor 17 is reduced when the reference rotation position is set, the cam 20 is rotated when the ball hitting motor 17 rotates in the reverse direction.
Can reduce the impact when it hits the operating pin 22a, so that the components such as the cam 20 and the operating pin 22a can be prevented from being damaged, and the components can be prevented from being worn out early.

If the reference position setting processing of the ball hitting motor 17 is periodically performed at times other than when the power is turned on, the reference rotation position is repeatedly set. Even if the reference rotation position becomes inappropriate and erroneous, such erroneous setting can be corrected by performing the subsequent periodic reference position setting processing.

In the pachinko gaming machine according to this embodiment, as described above, the driving current of the ball hitting motor 17 becomes excessively large during normal driving, and when the overcurrent is detected, the excitation state of the coil of the ball hitting motor 17 is determined. Is abnormal, and it is determined that step-out has occurred.
Supplies a low-level out-of-step detection signal to the microcomputer 30 and resets the operation of the microcomputer 30 in response to the signal. To return to the control operation.

Further, such an abnormal state can be detected even when the hit ball adjustment handle 11 is fixed to a state where the firing device switch 68 is turned on, for example, by a coin or the like. Therefore, it is possible to avoid as much as possible the inconvenience that even if an abnormality occurs in the hit ball control with the hit ball adjusting handle 11 fixed, the hit control cannot be canceled. In addition, during normal driving, if an abnormality in the excitation state of the ball hitting motor 17 is detected, a low-level repeated step-out detection signal is given to the microcomputer 30 as long as the firing device switch 68 is on. . For example, when the microcomputer 30 is reset by setting the out-of-step detection signal to low level only once, and when an abnormality subsequently occurs, the out-of-step detection signal is already at low level.
Could not be reset. However, by repeatedly providing a step-out detection signal as in this embodiment,
There is an effect that even if an abnormality occurs after the microcomputer 30 is reset, the microcomputer 30 can be surely reset. Also,
Since the ball motor 17 always starts to rotate from the reference rotation position when the ball is fired, the ball can be fired with a constant response time to the firing operation of the player,
It is possible to improve the texture of the device that performs hit ball firing. Also, since the launch of the ball is always started from a fixed position when the launch of the ball is started, the ball is more stable at the start of the launch of the ball than when the start position of the launch is not constant. Can be expected. This is because the launching of the hit ball is started from a fixed position, so that the initial velocity of the shot ball becomes constant.

In the above-described embodiment, the hit ball adjustment handle that is rotated is shown as the hit ball handle that is operated by the player. However, the hit ball adjustment handle is not limited to the one that can be rotated, but can be a slide operation. It may be one that changes the resilience of a hit ball by an object, a button operation, a touch operation, or the like.

Next, feature points of modified examples of the present invention will be listed. (1) The microcomputer 30 executing the reference position setting process shown in FIG. 8 reversely rotates the hitting motor (hitting motor 17) at least when the power is turned on, and the reverse rotation is prevented by the reverse rotation preventing means (operation pin 22a). When an overcurrent generated due to the blockage is detected by the overcurrent detecting means (step-out detecting unit 67), a reference for determining a reference rotational position of the hitting motor based on the rotational position at which the overcurrent is detected. The rotational position determining means is configured. The microcomputer 30 that executes the normal driving process shown in FIG. 7 performs control to start normal rotation of the hit ball motor from the reference rotation position determined by the reference rotation position determination means when starting to fire a hit ball. A hitting motor control means is configured.

In such a configuration, the reference rotation position determining means may rotate the hitting motor at a lower speed than when the hitting motor rotates forward (see S18 to S20 in FIG. 8). By doing so, it is possible to reduce the load on the hitting motor when determining the reference rotation position. Further, since the impact on the hitting motor and the reverse rotation preventing means when the hitting motor reversely rotates and the reverse rotation is prevented by the reverse rotation preventing means can be reduced, the hitting ball launching device including the reverse rotation preventing means Can be prevented, and such parts can be prevented from being worn out at an early stage.

(2) The reference rotation position setting means may determine the reference rotation position of the hitting motor periodically after the power is turned on. By doing so, even if the reference rotation position determined when the power is turned on remains erroneous, such erroneous reference rotation position can be corrected by the subsequent periodic determination of the reference rotation position.

(3) The hit ball motor control means may further perform control to stop the hit ball motor at the reference rotation position when the player stops hitting the ball. By doing so, the time until the hit ball is fired when the player starts the hitting operation can be kept constant, and the texture of the hit ball firing device can be improved.

(4) The hitting motor control means, when deciding the reference rotational position, performs control for stopping reverse rotation of the hitting motor in response to detection of an overcurrent by the overcurrent detecting means. It may be further performed. By doing so, it is possible to reduce the load applied to the ball hitting motor as compared with a case where the reverse rotation of the ball hitting motor is continued when an overcurrent is detected, so that the durability of the ball hitting motor can be improved. it can.

[0080]

FIGS. 2 and 3 show specific examples of means for solving the problems.
A reverse rotation preventing means for preventing the reverse rotation at a predetermined position when the hitting motor (hitting motor 17) is reversely rotated by the operation pin 22a shown in FIG.
The out-of-step detection unit 67 shown in FIG. 4 constitutes overcurrent detection means for detecting that the drive current supplied to the hit ball motor has become an overcurrent exceeding a predetermined value. The microcomputer 30 executing the reference position setting process shown in FIG. 8 reversely rotates the hitting motor at least when the power is turned on, and the overcurrent generated due to the reverse rotation being prevented by the reverse rotation preventing means is overcurrent. Reference rotational position determining means for determining a reference rotational position of the hitting motor based on the rotational position at which the overcurrent is detected when the detection is detected by the detecting means. When the microcomputer 30 that executes the normal driving process shown in FIG. 7 performs the control of starting the forward rotation of the ball-hitting motor from the reference rotation position determined by the reference rotation position determination means when starting the firing of the hit ball. Motor control means is configured.

[0081]

The effect of the concrete example of the means for solving the problems.
According to the present invention described in the above, at least when the power supply is turned on, when the overcurrent generated by preventing the reverse rotation of the reverse rotation of the hitting motor is detected, the rotational position where the overcurrent is detected is detected. Since the reference rotation position of the hitting motor is determined based on the hitting motor, the reference rotation position of the hitting motor can be easily determined by using the overcurrent detecting means conventionally used in the ball game machine. Since the overcurrent detecting means is conventionally provided in the ball game machine, it is possible to set the reference rotation position of the hitting motor without changing the structure of the ball game machine and increasing the number of parts. it can.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall front view of a gaming machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a main part for describing the internal structure of the hit ball adjustment handle 11.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged front view showing the internal structure of the hit ball adjustment handle.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing various circuits provided on the hit ball substrate.

5A is a circuit diagram illustrating a specific example of a touch circuit unit, and FIG. 5B is a circuit diagram illustrating a specific example of a step-out detection unit;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the contents of a motor control process.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating processing contents of a normal driving process.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a process of a reference position setting process.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 is a pachinko gaming machine, 11 is a hit ball adjustment handle, 17 is a hit ball motor, 67 is a step-out detecting unit, 30 is a microcomputer, 22
a is an operating unit, 20 is a cam, and 66 is a motor drive unit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A ball game machine in which a ball is shot and fired in a game area by a hit ball launching device provided with a hit ball motor to play a game, wherein a predetermined value is set when the hit ball motor is reversely rotated. Reverse rotation preventing means for preventing the reverse rotation at the set position, and overcurrent detecting means for detecting that the driving current supplied to the hitting motor has become an overcurrent exceeding a predetermined value; and When the power is turned on, the hitting motor is rotated in the reverse direction, and when the overcurrent generated by the reverse rotation is prevented by the reverse rotation preventing means is detected by the overcurrent detecting means, the overcurrent is detected. A reference rotation position determining means for determining a reference rotation position of the hitting motor based on the rotation position, and a reference rotation position determined by the reference rotation position determination means when starting to fire a hit ball. Characterized in that it comprises a ball striking motor control means for controlling to start the forward rotation of the hitting motor, a ball-shooting game machine.