JPS58221484A - Medal cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a cleaning device for cleaning medals (including coins) used in game machines.

In game centers that have a large number of slot machines and other various game machines installed, a large amount of medals are used for the game machines. In particular, medals dedicated to gaming machines are not only used to start the gaming machine, but are also paid out in accordance with game scores, and are extremely often used repeatedly. Therefore, when such medals are used by many people and many times, they tend to become dirty and unsanitary. Conventionally, in order to deal with this, used medals have been periodically collected and cleaned manually, but this is a very complicated process.

The present invention was developed in view of the above-mentioned background, and is designed to have excellent cleaning effects, and to be able to easily automate drying after cleaning if necessary. The present invention provides a medal cleaning device that can be housed in a gaming machine and can also be built into the gaming machine itself.

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail based on the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a basic configuration diagram showing an example of a cleaning liquid circulation system. In FIG. 1, 1 is a washing tank for storing a washing liquid S, 2 is a washing liquid circulation pipe, P is a pump, 8 is a filtration filter, 4 is a switching valve, and 5 is a pulp. Further, 7 is a heater attached to the lower part of the cleaning tank l, and 8 is a hopper device.

For example, an O-ring or the like is interposed between the rotating shaft 11 of the hopper device 8 and the cleaning tank 1 to prevent leakage of the cleaning liquid. The hopper device 8 includes a medal discharging disk 9 located in the cleaning tank 1, and this disk 9 is circularly driven by a motor 8a of the hopper device 8, whereby the medals are supplied to a medal passage described later and sent sequentially. Note that the structure and operation of the hopper device itself are well known, so the details thereof will be omitted. The IO is a hopper constructed of, for example, a punching board or a wire mesh, and receives medals to be cleaned. Note that 12 is a replenishment tank for storing replenishment cleaning liquid, and is connected to the cleaning liquid circulation pipe 2 via the switching valve 4.

To play the game, if you insert medals into the slot 15 provided on the front of the game machine, you will receive a shu) 15
a? :, A are stored in the hopper 10. When the cleaning mode is set and the pump P is operated, the cleaning liquid S circulates through the pipe 2 and the cleaning tank 1 according to the arrow A, and during this circulation process, the cleaning liquid discharged from the lower part of the cleaning tank 1 passes through the filtration filter 3. Therefore, the dirt in the cleaning liquid is removed and the cleaning ability can be maintained. The heater 7 functions to maintain the temperature of the cleaning liquid in the cleaning tank 1 at a predetermined cleaning temperature, thereby increasing the cleaning ability. To replenish the cleaning liquid, switch the switching valve 4 to the replenishment tank 12 side, and the pump P can send in new replenishment cleaning liquid. It is sufficient to provide a drain pulp.

When a prize is won, medals are paid out according to the score, and at this time, the hopper device 8 starts operating as is well known. As a result, the medal discharging disk 9 rotates within the cleaning tank 1, so that the medals are scooped up and a predetermined number of medals are discharged through the medal passage shown in FIG. This rotation of the medal discharging disk 9 also has the effect of stirring the cleaning liquid, which is convenient for cleaning. Incidentally, it is preferable to attach an appropriate level meter 16 to monitor the amount of cleaning liquid in the cleaning tank l.

FIG. 2 is a principle diagram showing an example of a cleaned medal passage system. In FIG. 2, 20 is the cleaning tank shown in FIG. 1, 21 is a cleaning liquid circulation pipe, and 22 is a drain valve used for recovering the cleaning liquid. 28 is a medal discharging disk of the hopper device shown as 9 in FIG.
By being rotationally driven in the direction of arrow B in the figure, the medals M are sequentially sent to the left, that is, to a medal passage 24 to be described later. Note that the hopper indicated by 10 in FIG. 1 is not shown. The medals M that are sequentially sent out by the delivery disk 28 are sent along the path 24, and each medal advances while being pushed by the following medals. The medal passage 24 has a structure as shown in FIG. 8, for example, and the side surfaces of the medals are exposed to the outside.

As shown in FIG. 2, a portion of the medal passage 24 on the discharge disk 28 side is located within the cleaning tank l. Furthermore, medal passage 2
4 has a low-cleaning brush 25.26. A dryer 27 is provided. Rotary brush 25.26
The brushes contact the sides of the medals advancing through the medal passage 24 and contribute to medal cleaning by rotating brushes. Further, the dryer 27 is a device such as a dryer that blows warm air to remove wetness caused by the cleaning liquid. The washed medals that have progressed through the medal path 24 reach the end of the medal path, that is, the discharge port 80
From there, it is discharged into a saucer 81 provided on the front of the game machine. It is preferable to configure this discharge port portion as a slightly upward medal path to prevent the medals from falling inadvertently. A microswitch 82 is installed near the discharge port 80. The signal of this microswitch 82 is
This signal is input to the microcomputer 88 that controls the game machine, and when a predetermined number of medals have been paid out, a motor stop signal is sent to the hopper drive section 84 to stop the hopper device 8.

If the medal passage system is configured in this way, a part of the passage is inside the cleaning tank 20, so dirt is completely removed when passing through this part and by the rotary brush 25 in the cleaning liquid, resulting in a good condition. A good cleaning effect is obtained, and the washed medals are made completely usable by the rotary brush 26 degree dryer 27 outside the cleaning tank. Note that the dryer 27' may be a nichrome wire heater, an infrared irradiation device, or the like.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the rotary brush designated by reference numerals 25 and 26 in FIG. 2, and two rotating shafts 41 and 42 are provided in parallel to the housing 40. A pulley 48 is fixed to the rotating shaft 41 and connected to a motor (not shown) via a belt 44. Also, the rotating shaft 41
．． Gears 45 and 46 are fixed to each of the gears 42, and the rotating shaft 42 rotates together with the rotating shaft 41 through these gears.

Also, brushes 47 and 48 are provided at the center of the rotating shafts 41 and 42 to wipe away the medals Ml passing between them. The rotating direction of the brushes 47 and 48 is opposite to the moving direction of the medal M.

FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram showing an example in which the device of the present invention is applied to, for example, a slot machine, in which the reel of a 50Vi slot machine, 52 a microcomputer with an arithmetic processing function, 54 a hopper drive motor, 56 a hopper drive motor, Reference numeral 58 indicates a counter provided at the medal ejection port.

As is well known, the stop position signals of each reel 50 of the slot machine are input to the microcomputer 52, and the number of medals for one payout is determined according to the combination thereof.

The hopper drive unit 54 is activated by a payout signal from the microcomputer 52, and the hopper drive motor 56 rotates to sequentially pay out the washed medals to the slot machine's discharge port. At this time, a counter 58 provided near the payout port counts the number of medals to be paid out, and the count signal is fed back to the microcomputer 52, or when the microcomputer 52 detects that a predetermined number of medals has been paid out, the hopper A stop signal is sent to the drive unit 54, and the hopper drive motor 56 is stopped.

In this way, there is no need to collect dirty medals and perform a separate cleaning operation as in the past.

FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram showing another example of application of the cleaning device of the present invention. 60A, 60B, and 60C are individual gaming machines that use metal, and there is a line 6 for collecting medals after use.
1 in common, and recovery gates 62A and 62B for this recovery gate 61, respectively.

Equipped with 62C. Furthermore, the supply line 68 for new medals, for example, payout-only medals, is also common, and similarly, supply lines 64A and 64B, respectively.

Equipped with 64C. It is assumed that the used medals sent through the recovery line 61 reach the cleaning device 70, and the washed medals are sent to the supply line 68 by the hopper device. With this configuration, each game machine 60A to 60C
The used medals collected in total or in any one are opened in the cleaning device 7 by opening the appropriate collection gates 62A to 62C.
After washing and drying the medals, the medals are sent to the medal supply line 68 and the supply gates 64A to 64C are opened, whereby an appropriate number of washed medals can be supplied to a desired game machine. In this case, the medal collection line 61.
The medal supply line 6B can be driven separately,
Further, it is desirable to provide a storage section between the supply line 68 and the cleaning device 70 to temporarily store cleaning medals. Note that the present invention can be installed separately from a game machine and used as a dedicated machine for cleaning collected medals.

The embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, but a hopper device with a medal feeding function is housed in the cleaning tank, and the medals are washed by the stirring of this hopper device, and the medals are fed one by one. Since it can be taken out, efficient cleaning can be carried out. Furthermore, if it is stored in a game machine, it can also be used as a medal payout device. Furthermore, the medal passage system is a little long, and the medals are sent one after another after washing, so adding a drying device for post-washing processing and a counter can greatly improve functionality. It is also something that can be easily improved.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a basic configuration diagram showing an example of the cleaning liquid circulation system of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a principle configuration diagram showing an example of the medal passage system of the present invention. FIG. 8 is an external perspective view showing an example of the medal passage of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the rotary brush. FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 are conceptual diagrams each showing an example of application of the present invention. S...Cleaning liquid lψ...Cleaning tank 2...Circulating vibrator 8...Filtration filter 8Q...Hopper device 9...Medal discharge disk lO...Hopper 20...Cleaning tank 28...
Medal discharge disk 24...-Medal passage 25.26...Rotary brush 27...Dryer 80...Discharge port 82...Counter Mll...Medal 50-...Slot machine reel 52.@Φ Microcomputer 58, counters 60A, 60B, 60C...game machine 61...medal collection line 68...medal supply line 70...medal cleaning device

Claims (6)

[Claims] (1) A hopper device that stores the inserted medals and sends them out one by one; a medal path that guides the medals sent from this hopper device to a discharge port; the hopper of the hopper device; and the medals connected thereto; 1. A medal cleaning device comprising: a cleaning tank in which a part of the passage is immersed in cleaning liquid; and a control device for driving the hopper device. (2) The medal washing device according to claim (1), wherein the washing tank is provided with a heater for keeping the washing liquid warm. (3) The medal washing device according to claim (1), wherein the hopper device is made of a wire mesh or a punching board. (4) The medal washing device according to claim (1), wherein a drying device is provided in the medal passage outside the washing tank. (5) The medal washing device according to claim (1), wherein a rotary brush is provided in the medal passage. (6) The medal washing device according to claim (1), wherein each of the devices is housed in a game machine.