JPS633886A - Replenishing apparatus for game machine - 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 (Field of the Invention) The present invention relates to a replenishment device for game machines, and is capable of eliminating clogging of balls in passages for replenishing game balls to each pachinko machine installed in a row at a pachinko game parlor, for example. This invention relates to a replenishment device for gaming machines.

(Summary of the Invention) This invention is a game machine replenishment device that automatically replenishes game balls when the tank of the game machine becomes empty. The opening/closing means is turned on and off to apply vibration to the supply channel to eliminate ball clogging.

(Prior art and its problems) In recent years, pachinko game parlors have been equipped with automatic game ball circulation devices that unmannedly circulate balls from the outlet to the inlet tank in order to streamline management.

In other words, when the tanks of the pachinko machines arranged in a row on the island stand are empty, the empty tank detection switch detects this, and the replenishment path opening/closing device installed in the supply path above the island stand is opened to replenish a predetermined number of game balls. will be done.

- On the other hand, the game balls discharged from the pachinko machine are automatically polished, then lifted and sent back to the pachinko machine through the supply path above the island.

By the way, in such a game ball automatic circulation device,
If the alignment of the balls in the supply path becomes poor or if the humidity becomes strong, the balls will not slide smoothly, making it difficult to expect smooth flow of the balls, and in the worst case scenario, balls will become clogged, making it impossible to replenish the supply.

In the event of a supply failure, a staff member must go to the relevant pachinko machine and remove the cause of the ball jam by tapping on the machine, etc., but this is a labor-intensive task that hinders the rationalization of the game hall. ing.

(Object of the Invention) An object of the present invention is to provide a replenishing device for a game machine such as the above, in which clogging of balls in the replenishment path can be resolved without using human hands.

(Structure and Effect of the Invention) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes a ball clogging detection means for detecting ball clogging in the supply route after the start of supply, and a closing/closing means for the supply route when the ball clogging is detected. The present invention is characterized by comprising a ball clogging eliminating means that gives an open/intermittent command and vibrates the supply path.

According to such a configuration, even if ball clogging occurs in the supply route, it is automatically cleared, and the burden on the configuration is reduced by utilizing the means for opening and closing the supply route.

(Description of Embodiments) Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the apparatus according to the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 2, in a pachinko game hall, a plurality of pachinko machines 12 are arranged in a row on an island stand 10.

Each pachinko machine 12 has an automatic game ball circulation device that supplies pachinko balls (hereinafter referred to as "balls") to supplement the use by players.
11 will be automatically replenished.

Above the pachinko machines 12, there is a sphere consisting of a main conduit 14 arranged at an angle along the row of pachinko machines, and a distribution conduit 16 that branches downward from the main conduit 14 and extends to each pachinko machine 12. A supply path 18 is formed. The vicinity of the lower end of the distribution pipe 16 and the upper end of the back of the Pachinko machine 12 are shown in FIG.

The lower end of the distribution channel 16 is once bent sideways and then bent downward again, and is connected to the supply channel opening/closing device 20 and the supply amount counter 2.
It opens after passing 2. The supply channel opening/closing device 20 includes a blocking plate 24 that opens and closes the distribution channel 16 and a solenoid 26 that operates the blocking plate 24. While the solenoid 26 is de-energized, it is biased by the spring and the cutoff plate 24 protrudes to cut off the conduit. When the solenoid 26 is energized, the cutoff plate 24
is aspirated and the duct is opened.

Balls are supplied to the pachinko machine 12 by opening and closing the supply path opening/closing device 20, and ball clogging in the supply path 18 is cleared by intermittent opening and closing of the supply path opening/closing device 20.

The replenishment amount counter 22 includes a disk 28 with teeth partially exposed to the pipe, a magnet 30 protruding from the end of the disk 28, and a reed switch 32 whose contacts close when the magnet 30 approaches.
Consisting of

Then, every time 10 balls 11 flow past the disk 28, the disk 28 rotates once, and when the magnet 3o approaches, the reed switch 32
h; Close 1 cohabitation point. The amount of balls 11 to be replenished is counted from the number of times the contacts are closed.

A tank 34 for storing balls 11 is provided at the upper part of the rear side of the pachinko machine 12 directly below the lower end opening of the distribution pipe 16. When a player uses the pachinko machine 12, the balls 11 in the tank 34 are stored. When the ball runs out, an empty detection switch 36 provided on the bottom of the tank closes, and when the tank 34 is replenished with balls 11 from the outside, the empty detection switch 36 opens.

Solenoid 26 of supply path opening/closing device 20 provided for each pachinko hall 12, reed switch 3 of supply amount counter 22
2. The empty detection switch 36 of the tank 34 is connected to an output circuit 40 in the amusement center management computer system 38 shown in FIG.
, and are connected to input circuits 42 and 44.

The gaming hall management computer system 38 is a normal microcomputer system, and includes a ROM 46 in which a system program, a ball replenishment program, a ball clogging release program, and other control programs are stored, a RAM 48 used for temporary storage of data, and an input circuit 42. .44, output circuits 40, 50, ROM 46, and RAM 48 through a system bus 52, and executes various processes necessary for game hall management, including ball replenishment processing and 9 ball jam clearing processing, in accordance with various programs stored in ROM 46. h) It is made up of MPU54.

The - side of the reed switch 32 and the empty detection switch 36 are connected to the power supply, and the other side is connected to the input port 0.62 via input buffers 756 and 58 in the input circuit 42.46.

One side of the solenoid 26 is connected to a power source, and the other side is connected to the output port 6 in the output circuit 40 via a solenoid driving transistor 64.

The output circuit 50 includes an output port 8 and a buzzer driving transistor 70 connected to the output side of the output port 8. A buzzer 72 is connected between the output side of the output circuit 50 and a power source. This buzzer 72
This is to issue an alarm when the supply of balls to the Pachinko machine 12 is not completed normally.

FIG. 4 shows the MPU of the gaming hall management computer system 38.
54. Following various processes, it is determined for each pachinko machine 12 whether the empty detection switch 36 has changed from open to closed, and if YES, the ball is not sent to the pachinko machine 12. After the replenishment process is started, other processes are performed, and this process is repeated (steps 100 to 106).

FIG. 5 shows a detailed flow of ball replenishment processing including ball jam elimination processing. Following this flow, the tank 34 of a certain Pachinko machine 12 becomes empty and the supply of balls Mi is started, but the processing will be explained when the balls 11 do not flow due to clogging of balls as shown in FIG. 6 in the distribution pipe 16.

First, when the tank 34 becomes empty, the empty detection switch 36 changes from open to closed, and the power supply voltage is applied to the input circuit 42.

Then, after the MPU 54 reads the input state of the input circuit 42 and determines that the empty detection switch 36 of the pachinko machine 12 has changed from open to closed, the reed switch related to the pachinko machine 12 is activated via the input circuit 44. As the pulses generated between the 32 contacts begin to be counted from zero,
The solenoid 26 associated with the pachinko machine 12 is energized through the output circuit 40 and a replenishment path command is given (steps 200, 202, 204). In addition, the monitoring timer T
1 is started (step 206).

When the solenoid 26 is energized, the cutoff plate 24 is attracted, and the distribution pipe 16, which had been cut off until then, is surrounded.

Subsequently, the MPU 54 determines whether the monitoring timer T1 has finished counting the predetermined start return time t1 and has timed out (step 208).

Here, tl is the number of balls 11 normally placed in the tank 34 in succession.
This is set to be much shorter than the time required to replenish 00 valves (equivalent to one replenishment valve).

Then, when the time-up of the monitoring timer T1 is confirmed,
Next, it is determined whether the number of replenishments to the tank 34 after the solenoid 26 is energized is zero (step 210).

However, in this case, as shown in FIG. 6, balls were clogged in the distribution pipe 16 associated with the pachinko machine 12.

Therefore, even if the solenoid 26 is energized, the bulb 1 will not turn on even if the conduit is opened.
1 flow does not occur.

Therefore, there is no pulse input from the reed switch 32 and the number of replenishments is zero, and the MPU 54 gives a closing/opening command to the solenoid 26 through the output circuit 40 to repeat the on/off operation (step 212). .

Actually, as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 7, energization and de-energization are repeated four times at intervals of 0.5 seconds for a period of t3, and finally the energization state is returned (steps 300 to 314).

Subsequently, the monitoring timer T2 is started (step 21
4).

By intermittent energization of the solenoid 26, the blocking plate 24 is repeatedly attracted and returned, and at this time, %''R is applied to the distribution pipe line 16.

Therefore, the location where the bulbs are clogged in the distribution pipe 16 is vibrated, the bulbs are unblocked, and flow begins.

- Once the ball 11 starts flowing, it is rare that it stops midway, and the tank 311 is continuously replenished with the ball 1.

The amount of replenishment is counted by the MPU 54 which reads the pulses input from the reed switch 32 from the input circuit 44 in 91 combinations of 10 pulses.

Next, after energizing the lensoid 26, it is repeatedly determined whether the number of pulses input from the REET switch 32 has reached a predetermined number (41 pulses corresponding to 400 balls), or whether the monitoring timer T2 has finished counting the predetermined time t2 after starting and has timed up. Determined (steps 216, 218>).

Here, 12 means 40 balls 11 are normally placed in the tank 34 in succession.
It is set to be much longer than the time required for 0 pieces to be replenished. Therefore, before the monitoring timer T2 times up, the MPU 54 confirms that the replenishment of 400 balls 11 has been completed, and the energization of the solenoid 26 associated with the pachinko machine 12 is stopped, thereby completing the replenishment process for the balls 11 (step 216).
, 220).

In this way, the balls were initially jammed and there was no flow of ball 11, but
The energization state of the solenoid 26 is shown in FIG. 8 (A>) when the flow is induced by the ball clogging removal process and the tank 34 of the pachinko parlor 12 is finally normally replenished.

On the other hand, as mentioned above, if the monitoring timer T2 times up after the clogging is cleared by intermittent energization of the solenoid 26 and before the completion of replenishment is confirmed, the energization of the solenoid 26 is stopped and the replenishment system is stopped for some reason. The buzzer 72 is activated through the output circuit 50 to issue an alarm to notify that an abnormality has occurred due to factors other than the ball clogging (steps 218, 222, 224, see FIG. 8(B)).

In addition, if the bulbs 11 are not clogged in the distribution pipe 16 etc. and the bulbs 11 are flowing normally and being replenished into the tank 34 immediately after the start of replenishment, after the time-up of the monitoring timer T1 is confirmed,
Since some supplies have already been counted, solenoid 26
Monitoring timer T2 is immediately activated without intermittent energization.
is started.

Then, before the monitoring timer T2 times up, 40
When it is confirmed that the supply of 0 pieces has been completed, the energization of the solenoid 26 is stopped (steps 200, 202, 204, 206).
, 208, 210, 214° 216. 220, Fig. 8 (
See C).

However, in rare cases, if no ball clogging occurs at first and the flow of balls 11 stops after the monitoring tie 7T2 starts, if the time-up of the treetop view timer T2 is confirmed before the end of replenishment, the solenoid 26 will stop energizing, and an alarm will be issued. Occurrence takes place (
Steps 200, 202, 204, 206, 208, 2
10,214°216.218,222,224, 8th
Figure (see D>).

Although FIG. 5 shows the processing for one pachinko machine 12 for simplicity, it is natural that the processing is performed for each pachinko machine 12 individually, and multitasking processing is used as the linkage method. .

In addition to the way the alarm is issued (in addition to the above-mentioned alarm 72, there is also a CRT in the gaming hall management computer system 38).
Pachinko machine 12 equipped with a display and with a defective product
An alarm message may be displayed together with the number f'], and the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment.

As explained above, according to this embodiment, when a supply path such as a distribution pipe is clogged with pachinko balls and balls cannot flow, the ball clogging is immediately detected and the supply path is weakened. Since this is done, ball clogging is quickly and automatically resolved, and normal replenishment is ensured without making the pachinko parlor unusable. Therefore, in the past, if a ball jam occurred, the pachinko machine would be unusable for a while, requiring a clerk to be called and the clerk to repair the machine. This can save labor by eliminating the need to call store staff and manually apply vibrations.

In addition, the output of the replenishment amount counter is monitored by a microcomputer, and if a predetermined number of pachinko balls have not been replenished within a certain period of time after replenishment is started, ball clogging is recognized, and the replenishment channel opening/closing device is opened/closed intermittently. Since the opening operation is performed to excite the supply path, there is no need to install special external equipment on the supply path or the pachinko machine, and ball clogging can be prevented with software processing, reducing the burden on the configuration. , can be easily implemented in existing systems by modifying the program.

Furthermore, if normal replenishment is not achieved in the end, an alarm will be issued so that emergency situations can be resolved quickly.

[BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a replenishment device including a gaming hall management computer system according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an external view of a pachinko machine, and FIG. 4 is a flowchart explaining the overall operation of FIG. 1, FIG. 5 is a flowchart explaining the ball replenishment process of FIG. 1, and FIG. 6 shows a ball jam condition. FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining the solenoid on/off control in FIG. 5, and FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the solenoid. 11...Pachinko ball 12...Pachinko machine 18...Supply channel 20...Supply channel opening/closing device 22...Supply amount counter 34...Tank 38...Amusement hall management computer system No. 4 Figure 6 Figure 7 Figure 8 (A) (B) (C) (O) Procedural amendment October-22, 1985 Commissioner of the Patent Office Black 1) Akio Tono 1, Indication of the case
-'Patent Application No. 61-146499 2, Title of Invention Replenishment Device for Gaming Machines 3, Relationship to the Amendment Case Patent Applicant Address 10 Hanazono Tsuchido-cho, Ukyo-ku, Kyoto City Name
(294) Tateishi Denden Co., Ltd. Representative Takao Tateishi 4, Agent ■101 Address 6th floor, Toko Building, 1-15-16 Uchikanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo i5i'295-14805 Date of amendment order (voluntary) 1i,;:・
Knee 6, Target of correction Drawing 7, Contents of correction Figure 7 will be corrected as shown in the attached sheet. District 7

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A replenishment device for a game machine that detects the absence of balls in a tank of a game machine and issues an opening command to an opening/closing means provided on a ball replenishment path from the outside to the tank to replenish a predetermined number of balls. Equipped with ball clogging detection means for detecting ball clogging in the supply path after starting, and ball clogging elimination means for giving a closing/opening/intermittent command to the supply path opening/closing means to vibrate the supply path when ball clogging is detected. A replenishment device for a game machine, characterized by the following.