JP3480907B2 - Ball backflow prevention device for ball game machines - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a ball backflow prevention device provided on a game board and provided at an entrance portion of a guide rail for guiding a shot ball that has been launched into a game area.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, after a shot ball has reached the game area of a game board along a guide rail, it flows back to the guide rail and collides with the next shot ball. It has been known that a ball backflow prevention device is installed in the inner rail portion of the guide in order to prevent the situation where the firing operation is not smoothly performed. Further, the ball backflow prevention device is usually composed of a flexible thin plate.

[0003]

Although such a ball backflow prevention device can reduce the backflow to the guide rail, it has a bad influence on the hitting of the ball into the game area and the position aimed by the player. There was a problem that the ball could not reach the ball stably. Further, in the ball game machine, due to its playability, a ball hitting once reaching the game area collides with an obstacle nail or the like and bounces (hereinafter, the bounce ball that bounces is called a return ball), and a thin plate constituting a ball backflow prevention device. However, there is also a problem that the thin plate is bent due to a change with time in which such a collision is repeated, and a smooth firing operation of a hit ball cannot be performed. The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a ball backflow prevention device for a ball-playing game machine that does not adversely affect the ejection of a ball into the game area for a long period of time. To provide.

[0004]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, according to claim 1 of the present invention, an entrance portion to a game area of a guide rail which is provided on a game board and guides a shot hit ball. In the ball backflow prevention device provided in, the ball backflow prevention device, the mounting holder provided at the upper end of the guide inner rail provided in the game board, the base is supported at the bottom of the mounting holder and the tip thereof. The part is a circle in the direction of the outer guide rail provided outside the inner guide rail.
The base of the base is extended in an arc shape with respect to the shooting direction of the ball .
Consisting of a backflow prevention piece that easily fluctuates due to support ,
An arc shape of the backflow prevention piece in which the varying portion of the backflow prevention piece is in contact with the mounting holder for a predetermined length.
Wherein the backflow preventing piece abutting tracks surface along the is formed. With such a configuration, the shot hit ball reaches the game area by pushing open the backflow preventing piece that closes the entrance portion of the game area. At this time, since the backflow prevention piece easily fluctuates with respect to the hitting direction of the hitting ball, it has very little influence on the hitting ball, and the hitting ball can reach the position almost aimed by the player. On the other hand, even if a ball hitting the game area collides with an obstacle nail or the like and tries to return to the guide rail, it is blocked by the backflow preventing piece and the backflow is surely prevented. In addition, when the hitting ball once reaching the game area collides with an obstacle nail or the like and bounces back and collides with the backflow prevention piece constituting the ball backflow prevention device, the backflow prevention piece is a backflow prevention piece formed on the mounting holder. located abutment song surface state contact with,
Since the impact of the return ball is transmitted to the backflow preventing piece abutting tracks surface via the backflow preventing member, it is possible to attenuate the impact force applied to the direct backflow prevention pieces. As a result, the change over time of the backflow preventing piece due to the returning ball can be suppressed as much as possible, and the ball can be smoothly ejected for a long period of time.

According to claim 2 of the present invention,
The mounting holder contacts the guide inner rail on its side surface.
Rail contact surface, and the guide is provided on the bottom surface of the rail contact surface.
Rail stop pin head for fixing the guide inner rail to the game board
It is characterized in that a notched concave portion for accommodating the portion is formed. This
The mounting holder can be
It can be attached closely to the base.

[0006]

[0007]

[0008]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, the configuration of the game board 1 of the ball game machine to which the ball backflow prevention device 30 according to the embodiment is applied will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. Figure 4
FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a relationship between the game board 1 and the ball backflow prevention device 30, and FIG. 5 is a front view of a game area 5 surrounded by the guide rails 2 of the game board 1. In addition, in FIG. 4 and FIG.
Different game devices such as winning devices provided in a game area 5 described later are depicted.

In the figure, a game board 1 is formed of a substantially square plywood, and a guide rail 2 is provided on the surface thereof in a substantially circular shape. More specifically, the guide rail 2 rotates clockwise from the lower part of the game board 1 and reaches the upper right side of the game board 1, and the guide outer rail 2 rotates clockwise from the end of the guide outer rail 2a. It is composed of a guide inner rail 2b that reaches the upper left side of the game board 1, and a guide outer rail 2a and a guide inner rail 2 on the left side of the game board 1.
A portion overlapping with b constitutes a ball leading path 3 for guiding the fired ball, and the area surrounded by the upper part of the outer guide rail 2a and the inner guide rail 2b is a game area 5. In the illustrated embodiment, an elastic member 4 made of rubber or synthetic resin is attached to the end of the guide outer rail 2a and the start of the guide inner rail 2b, and a strongly shot hit ball will be described later. It is forcibly dropped toward the area 5.

By the way, as shown in FIG. 5, a launch rail 6 is provided on the downstream side of the starting end of the outer guide rail 2a through a foul opening 7 (this launch rail 6 is generally a game board. It is attached to the game board mounting frame instead of 1.), the end of this launch rail 6 and the guide outer rail 2a
The start end of is formed in a stepped shape. That is, by mounting the respective rails so that the end of the launch rail 6 is higher than the outer guide rail 2a, the fired hitting ball (arrow of a) does not collide with the end portion of the outer guide rail 2a and is smooth. When there is a ball that is guided back to the hitting ball guide passage 3 and returns backward without reaching the game area 5, the return ball (arrow b) collides with the lower end of the firing rail 6 and the foul mouth I am sure that I will be guided to 7. With this structure, in many cases, multiple hitting balls are prevented from accumulating at the launching position 6a located at the base of the launching rail 6 to eliminate double hitting, but in the returning ball, sometimes Others jump over the foul mouth 7 when they reach the lower part of the outer guide rail 2a, or when they hit the ball launched next time and bounce off. A lower backflow prevention device 8 is provided above the terminal end of the firing rail 6 in order to reliably guide the return ball jumping over the foul mouth 7 to the foul mouth 7.

The lower backflow prevention device 8 will be briefly described. The lower backflow prevention device 8 is mounted on the game board 1 and an upper end of the mounting plate 9 is supported by the upper front part of the mounting plate 9 so as to be swingable. The swing rod 10 provided and the swing rod 1
0, and a stopper protrusion 11 protruding rearward from the lower end of 0. Thus, the swing rod 10 is swingable with respect to the left side of FIG. 5 (that is, the firing direction of the hitting ball), but is stopped with respect to the right side (that is, the returning direction of the returning ball). The rocking is stopped by. Therefore, when the launch ball is fired, the rocking rod 10 bounces above the launch rail 6 for some reason.
Even when the ball hits the ball, it reaches the ball-hit guide path 3 while rocking the rocking rod 10 in the clockwise direction by its force, and therefore the ball does not return to the shooting position 6a again. On the other hand, when the return ball that has jumped over the foul opening 7 collides with the swing rod 10, the swing of the swing rod 10 is stopped by the stopper projection 11, so that the return ball hits the swing rod 10. It falls down and is guided to the foul mouth 7.

As described above, the lower backflow preventive device 8 surely guides the returning ball returning to the foul mouth 7 without reaching the game area 5. And in this embodiment,
A ball backflow prevention device 3 which will be described later and constitutes a main part of this embodiment.
The batting ball that has reached the game area 5 by 0 is prevented from returning to the firing position 6a of the firing rail 6 again,
Since the hit balls that do not reach the game area 5 are not returned to the firing position 6a of the firing rail 6 by the lower backflow prevention device 8, it is possible to reliably prevent double hits as a whole. Note that the lower backflow prevention device 8a shown in FIG. 4 is shown by driving the upper part of the swing rod directly into the game board 1 with a nail, but in this case as well, although not shown, the swing rod is stopped. A stopper protrusion is provided.

By the way, the shot hitting ball passes through the ball hitting guide passage 3 and reaches the game area 5.
At the end of the above, in other words, at the entrance 12 of the game area 5, a ball backflow prevention device 30 that is a main part of this embodiment is provided. The ball backflow prevention device 30 will be described in detail later, so that the elastic thin piece 50 as a backflow prevention piece forming the ball backflow prevention device 30 almost completely partitions the hitting ball guide passage 3 and the game area 5. The inlet portion 12 is closed.

Here, the structure of the game area 5 will be briefly described with reference to FIG. 5. A large number of game devices, for example, variable display devices, which are operated by the balls that reach the game area 5 and fall. 13, variable winning a prize ball device 14, starting mouth device 15, winning a prize mouth 16a and 16b with the windmill, windmill 1 with the lamp
7a, 17b, passage openings 18a, 18b, etc. are arranged at appropriate positions, and side lamps 19a, 19b that are turned on or blinked according to the game state are also provided. Also,
A large number of obstacle nails 21 that change the falling direction and speed of the ball
(Generally 200 to 300) or a windmill 22 (the above-mentioned windmill-equipped winning openings 16a and 16b and lamp-equipped windmills 17a and 17b).
Have the same function) and the game area 5
Out exit 20 that collects hit balls that did not win at the bottom of the
Is also formed.

The structure of the game area 5 is roughly the above-mentioned structure, but the game board 1 is further provided with rail decorations 23 on the upper left and right sides of the guide rail 2 as shown in FIG.
Further, a positioning hole 24 and a fastening hole 25 for positioning and fixing the ball backflow prevention device 30 are formed inside the upper end portion of the guide inner rail 2b. Two positioning holes 24 are formed with the fastening hole 25 in between. The ball backflow prevention device 30 attached to the positioning hole 24 and the fastening hole 25 is composed of an attachment holder 31 attached to the game board 1 and an elastic thin piece 50 attached to the attachment holder 31.

The detailed structure of the ball backflow prevention device 30 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3. Figure 1
FIG. 2 is a front view showing a state where the ball backflow prevention device 30 is attached to the game board 1 and a state where only the ball backflow prevention device 30 is turned upside down. FIG. 2 is a side surface of the ball backflow prevention device 30 viewed from the guide inner rail 2a side. FIG. 3 is a side view of the ball backflow prevention device 30 as viewed from the elastic thin piece 50 side. In the figure, a mounting holder 31 has a boat-like shape with a sharp tip having a thickness substantially the same as the width of the guide inner rail 2b, and a screw hole 32 penetrating in the vertical direction is formed in the center thereof.
Positioning bosses 33 project downward from both ends of the bottom surface. By engaging the positioning boss 33 with the positioning hole 24, the accuracy of mounting the ball backflow prevention device 30 on the game board 1 is uniquely secured, and the ease of mounting is also secured. To be done. However, in the present embodiment, as described below, the rail engaging portion 34
By engaging the rail engagement groove 35 formed in the front end with the front edge of the guide inner rail 2b, its accuracy and easiness are further increased. The screw hole 32 corresponds to the fastening hole 25, and the ball backflow prevention device 30 is fixed to the game board 1 by screwing the screw 45 shown in FIG. 4 with an automatic machine or a robot. Has become.

Further, one of the both side surfaces of the mounting holder 31 has a gentle curved surface 36 which matches the curvature of the guide inner rail 2b.
(Hereinafter, this curved surface is referred to as a rail contact curved surface 36.) On the other hand, a curved surface 39 (hereinafter, this curved surface will be referred to as a backflow prevention piece contact surface whose curvature increases toward the tip (upper end)). It is configured as a thin piece contact curved surface 39). The rail contact curved surface 36 is formed over substantially the entire length of the mounting holder 31, whereas the thin piece contact curved surface 39 is terminated by the notch 40 formed from the rear end (lower end) portion. ing.

By the way, the rail backflow prevention device 3 is formed by laterally projecting the rail engaging portion 34 having the rail engaging groove 35 formed along the upper edge of the rail contact curved surface 36.
When 0 is fixed to the game board 1, the rail engagement groove 35 can be fitted into the front edge of the guide inner rail 2b. Thereby, the game board 1 of the ball backflow prevention device 30
The accuracy and ease of attachment to the device is further increased. Also,
A cutout recess 37 is formed in the center of the bottom surface of the rail contact curved surface 36. This notch recess 37 is for fixing the guide inner rail 2b to the game board 1 and for accommodating the heads of the rail stop pins 38 protruding left and right at the base of the guide inner rail 2b. The mounting holder 31 can be mounted in close contact with the guide inner rail 2b.

On the other hand, at the rear end of the thin piece contact curved surface 39 side,
The notch 40 is formed as described above, and the notch 40
A thin piece mounting space 41 is formed at the rear end portion of the mounting holder 31 so as to be continuous with. This thin piece mounting space 41 is
As shown in the inside-out drawing of FIG. 1 (B), it is formed in a substantially U shape, and the elastic thin piece 50 has a winding portion 51 to be described later.
The shape is such that they can be stored in close contact with each other. Further, a boss 42 is provided at the center of the thin piece mounting space 41 to prevent the mounted elastic thin piece 50 from coming off. Note that, as shown in FIG. 3, the thin piece contact curved surface 39 may be formed with a restriction projection 43 in which a tapered surface is formed inward and backward with a distance substantially equal to the width of the elastic thin piece 50. good. By forming the restriction protrusion 43, it is possible to prevent the attached elastic thin piece 50 from being displaced in the front-rear direction, and
Even if the elastic thin piece 50 vibrates greatly, the tapered surface returns to a predetermined position.

The elastic thin piece 50 mounted on the mounting holder 31 having the above-described structure is formed of a thin steel thin plate (thickness: about 0.5 mm) or a synthetic resin thin plate in a substantially rectangular shape. The base portion is a winding portion 51 that is bent in a U shape along the internal shape of the thin piece mounting space 41. Therefore, the winding portion 51 is inserted from the back surface of the mounting holder 31 into the thin piece mounting space 41 , and at the same time, the front portion is brought out of the cutout portion 40 and the thin piece contacting face 3
The elastic thin piece 50 can be attached to the attachment holder 31 by following the line 9. In this way, when the mounting holder 31 having the elastic thin piece 50 attached thereto is attached to the upper end portion of the guide inner rail 2b by the above-mentioned fastening method, the tip of the elastic thin piece 50 reaches near the guide outer rail 2a, The entrance portion 12 of the game area 5 is almost closed. When this state is viewed from the entire game board 1, as shown in FIG. 5, the elastic thin piece 50 is substantially vertical and the guide outer rail 2a.
Has been extended to the vicinity of.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a trapezoidal guide hole 52 which tapers in the flight direction of the hitting ball is provided on the bottom surface side of the portion of the elastic thin piece 50 protruding from the mounting holder 31. Has been formed. The guide hole 52 is a ball that runs on the ball guide path 3, and catches a ball that floats slightly above the game board 1 surface and fly, and in a stable state toward the game board 1 surface side. At the same time as having the function of releasing to the game area 5, it also has the function of weakening the elastic force of the elastic thin piece 50 itself and suppressing the adverse effect on the momentum of the hitting ball. The guide hole 52 may be formed over substantially the entire length of the elastic thin piece 50.

Ball backflow prevention device 3 constructed as described above
In 0, first, by engaging the positioning boss 33 formed on the mounting holder 31 with the positioning hole 24 of the game board 1, the accuracy and ease of mounting the ball backflow prevention device 30 on the game board 1 are improved. As well as being secured, the mounting production method by an automatic machine or robot becomes possible by the positioning. Particularly, in the present embodiment, the positioning boss 3 is
Not only positioning by 3 but also rail stop pin 38
And the guide outer rail 2
Positioning by engaging the front edge of a with the rail engaging groove 35 of the rail engaging portion 34 can improve the accuracy and ease of the above-described mounting.

Further, in the ball backflow prevention device 30, since the elastic thin piece 50 is formed of an extremely thin elastic plate,
It is possible to greatly suppress the adverse effect of hitting balls on the flight to the game area 5. Particularly, since the elastic thin piece 50 in the present embodiment has its base portion supported by the lower end of the mounting holder 31, the movable length of the elastic thin piece 50 itself becomes long as shown by the broken line in FIG. For this reason,
Since the moment of inertia for pushing open the elastic thin piece 50 is small, the degree of weakening the momentum of the ball is reduced, and the above-mentioned adverse effect on the ball can be further suppressed.

On the other hand, when the hitting ball once reaching the game area 5 collides with the obstacle nail 21 or the like and bounces back and collides with the elastic thin piece 50, the tip of the elastic thin piece 50 comes into contact with the guide outer rail 2a, Since the ball does not move any further, the hit ball does not return to the ball guiding path 3 and is surely dropped toward the game area 5. As described above, by eliminating the return balls by the ball backflow prevention device 30, not only double hitting can be prevented, but also the operating rate of the ball game machine can be improved. Further, the thin piece contact curved surface 39 contacts the elastic thin piece 50 in a state where the hitting ball does not pass (a state shown by a solid line in FIG. 1), and contacts the backflow preventing piece in a state where the hitting ball passes. It is designed to be released (state shown by a broken line in FIG. 1). Therefore, the game area 5
When the hitting ball that has reached the point of the table collides with the obstacle nail 21 or the like and bounces back and collides with the elastic thin piece 50, the elastic thin piece 50
Is in contact with the thin piece contact curved surface 39, and the impact of the return ball is transmitted to the thin piece contact curved surface 39 via the elastic thin piece 50, so that the impact force applied to the elastic thin piece 50 can be directly attenuated. it can. As a result, the elastic thin piece 5 by the return ball
It is possible to suppress the change with time of 0 as much as possible, and it is possible to invite a smooth ball hitting operation for a long time. Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the thin piece contact curved surface 39 is formed into a curved surface shape that follows the shape of the elastic thin piece 50. For this reason, the impact force of the return ball exerted on the elastic thin piece 50 and the thin piece contact curved surface 39 can be alleviated, so that the elastic thin piece 50 can be made to have a structure that is more difficult to bend, and in turn, can be hit for a longer period of time. It is possible to bring about a smooth ball firing operation.

In the ball backflow prevention device 30 according to the above-described embodiment (hereinafter referred to as the first embodiment), the elastic thin piece 50 has a thin plate shape, but the embodiment shown in FIG. 6 and FIG. In the ball backflow prevention device 60 according to the second embodiment), the elastic thin piece 61 is made of a wire rod. In this case, the elastic thin piece 61 may be attached to the attachment holder 31 by bending the wire rod into a rectangular shape and attaching the winding portion 63 of the base portion around the boss 42 of the attachment holder 31. Therefore, also in the elastic thin piece 61 according to the second embodiment, the space 6 is formed over the entire length.
Since 2 is formed, a certain amount of elastic force can be imparted and swings when a hit ball passes, and the spacing space 62 thereof exhibits the same function as the guide hole 52 of the first embodiment, It is possible to stably guide a flying ball.
The mounting holder 31 in the second embodiment is
This is exactly the same as the mounting holder 31 of the first embodiment.

Further, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 8 (hereinafter, referred to as a third embodiment), the guide inner rail 2b is configured as a resin guide inner rail 70, and the resin guide inner rail 70 and the ball at the upper end are formed. The backflow preventive device 80, the lower backflow preventive device 90 and the outlet 100 are integrally formed. In this case, the ball backflow prevention device 80 integrally molds only the mounting holder 31 with the resin guide inner rail 70, and the lower backflow preventer 90 only mounts the mounting plate 9 and the stopper protrusion 11 to the resin guide inner rail. It is molded integrally with 70. With this configuration, the work of mounting the two-stage ball backflow prevention device can be performed extremely easily and accurately. In FIG. 8, the resin guide inner rail 70 is shown to have a length from the lower portion to the upper left portion, but the portion indicated by the alternate long and short dash line shows the rail portion configured by rail decoration. is there. Further, the ball backflow prevention device 80 shown in the third embodiment is not necessarily the same as that in the first and second embodiments, and may be one in which a holder portion to which an elastic thin piece can be simply attached is formed.

[0027]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the guide rail provided on the game board and for guiding the shot ball is provided at the entrance portion to the game area. In the ball backflow prevention device, the ball backflow prevention device includes a mounting holder provided at an upper end portion of a guide inner rail provided on the game board, a base portion of which is supported at a lower portion of the mounting holder , and a tip portion thereof. An arc shape in the direction of the outer guide rail provided outside the inner guide rail.
Extending to and supporting said base with respect to the launch direction of the punching ball
And a backflow prevention piece that fluctuates easily according to the arc shape of the backflow prevention piece with which the fluctuating portion of the backflow prevention piece abuts for a predetermined length.
Wherein the backflow preventing piece abutting songs surfaces Tsu is formed. With such a configuration, the shot hit ball reaches the game area by pushing open the backflow preventing piece that closes the entrance portion of the game area. At this time, since the backflow prevention piece easily fluctuates with respect to the hitting direction of the hitting ball, it has very little influence on the hitting ball, and the hitting ball can reach the position almost aimed by the player. On the other hand, even if a ball hitting the game area collides with an obstacle nail or the like and tries to return to the guide rail, it is blocked by the backflow preventing piece and the backflow is surely prevented.
In addition, when the hitting ball once reaching the game area collides with an obstacle nail or the like and bounces back and collides with the backflow prevention piece constituting the ball backflow prevention device, the backflow prevention piece is a backflow prevention piece formed on the mounting holder. located abutment song surface state contact with, the impact of the return ball is transmitted to the backflow preventing piece abutting tracks surface via the backflow preventing member, to attenuate the impact force applied to the direct backflow preventing piece it can. As a result, the change over time of the backflow preventing piece due to the returning ball can be suppressed as much as possible, and the ball can be smoothly ejected for a long period of time.

Further , in claim 2 of the present invention,
The mounting holder contacts the guide inner rail on its side surface.
Rail contact surface, and the guide is provided on the bottom surface of the rail contact surface.
Rail stop pin head for fixing the guide inner rail to the game board
It is characterized in that a notched concave portion for accommodating the portion is formed. This
The mounting holder can be
It can be attached closely to the base.

[0029]

[0030]

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a state where a ball backflow prevention device according to an embodiment is attached to a game board and a state where only the ball backflow prevention device is turned over.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the ball backflow prevention device as viewed from the guide inner rail side.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the ball backflow prevention device viewed from the elastic thin piece side.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a relationship between a game board and a ball backflow prevention device.

FIG. 5 is a front view of a game area surrounded by a guide rail of a game board.

FIG. 6 is a side view of a ball backflow prevention device according to another embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a side view of the ball backflow prevention device of FIG. 6 seen from the opposite side.

FIG. 8 is a schematic front view of a game board provided with a ball backflow device according to still another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 game board 2 induction rails 2a Guide outer rail 2b Guide inner rail 3 batting taxiway 5 game areas 12 Entrance 24 Positioning hole 30 Ball backflow prevention device 31 mounting holder 33 Positioning boss 39 Thin piece contact curved surface (backflow prevention piece contact surface) 50 Thin elastic piece (backflow prevention piece) 60 ball backflow prevention device 61 Elastic thin piece (backflow prevention piece) 70 Resin guide inner rail 80 ball backflow prevention device

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A ball backflow prevention device provided on a game board and provided at an entrance portion to a game area of a guide rail for guiding a shot ball shot, wherein the ball backflow prevention device is provided on the game board. And a mounting holder provided at the upper end of the guide inner rail, and a base portion thereof is supported by a lower portion of the mount holder and a tip portion thereof is directed toward the guide outer rail provided outside the guide inner rail.
The base portion is extended in an arc shape with respect to the shooting direction of the ball.
A backflow prevention piece that fluctuates easily by the support of the backflow prevention piece, and the mounting holder has an arc shape of the backflow prevention piece in which the fluctuating portion of the backflow prevention piece abuts over a predetermined length.
Ball backflow prevention device of a pinball game machine, characterized in that the backflow prevention piece abutment song surface is formed along the. 2. The mounting holder has a rail contact surface for contacting the guide inner rail on a side surface thereof, and a rail stopper for fixing the guide inner rail to the game board on a bottom surface of the rail contact surface. 2. A ball backflow prevention device for a ball game machine according to claim 1, wherein a notched recess for accommodating the head of the pin is formed.