JP4339097B2 - Gaming machine distribution chute - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a chute used for distributing and supplying a game ball from the flow kite to a gaming machine or the like, which is disposed on a game ball replenishment kit installed above a gaming machine on a gaming machine island.

  A large number of gaming machines are arranged back to back on the gaming machine island. The game balls that fall on the back of the gaming machine and are discharged to the rear side are collected in the lower tank arranged below the gaming machine island, and then the upper tank arranged above the gaming machine island by the lifting device. To be supplied to each gaming machine or ball lending machine.

  The upper tank is connected to a downfall with a slope. The flow-down rod is formed in a concave section having a side wall, and a device (chute) for replenishing a game ball to each gaming machine or ball lending machine installed on the gaming machine island at a predetermined position on the side wall. Has been placed. The game ball in the upper tank rolls along the slope of the downhole connected to the upper tank, and is distributed to the chute installed on the side wall of the downflow tank and supplied to each gaming machine or ball lending machine. The

  The chute includes a ball inflow port for taking game balls from the downhole discharge port of the downflow rod, a ball passage through which the game balls flow down from the ball inflow port, and the game balls are discharged from the ball passage to the gaming machine. It consists of a ball outlet. If the slope of the downhole and the slope of the ball passage of the chute are in the same direction, it is difficult to neatly align the game balls from the downhole in the ball passage, and it is easy to cause clogging of the ball inside the chute. It was. In order to smoothly supply the game balls distributed from the downfall to the gaming machine or ball lending machine, a ball inlet is provided at a position where the inclination of the downfall and the ball passage of the chute are opposite to each other. It was.

  Since game balls are supplied to the game machines or ball lending machines on both sides of the game machine island back to back using a single ditch, a chute is attached to each side of the ditch It will be. In that case, when viewed from a gaming machine on one side of the gaming machine island, in order to supply gaming balls to the gaming machine or ball lending machine on the near side, a `` front side shoot '' provided on the near side of the downfall, In order to replenish the game machine or ball lending machine on the opposite side, two types of devices are necessary: a “rear chute” provided on the rear side of the spillway. However, these two types of chutes have different ball path inclinations and different shapes, so there is a problem that they are not compatible and are cumbersome to manage.

  Therefore, in order to reduce the types of devices, it is desired that the front chute and the rear chute can be shared by one type of device. There is a known chute that can be used for two types of chutes, that is, a front chute and a rear chute with such one type of device (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 4-90386

  The chute described in Patent Document 1 is composed of a main body and a mounting part, the main body is formed in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped box shape, and a first ball path and a second ball path to which game balls flowing in from a ball inlet are distributed. Formed so as to cross substantially symmetrically, the ball passage is formed so that the game ball folds down in a meandering bed shape, the mounting part is formed so that it can be mounted detachably at a different angle with respect to the flow base, 1 It is configured so that it can be mounted as a front chute and a rear chute on various types of devices.

  The chute described in Patent Document 1 includes a first sphere passage inclined in the same direction as the downflow soot and a second sphere passage inclined in the opposite direction, which are communicated with one sphere inflow port. The game balls that have flowed in from the entrance are distributed to these two ball passages, so that they can be installed in either the front-rear direction or the flow-down cage.

  However, the chute described in Patent Document 1 is configured such that the first ball passage and the second ball passage overlap each other in the front-rear direction, so that the structure is complicated and the outer shape of the chute is the front-rear direction. However, there is a problem of increasing the size.

  In game stores, it is necessary to stop the supply of game balls from the chute during maintenance or replacement of gaming machines. Therefore, the chute is usually provided with a ball stopper. However, in the chute described in Patent Document 1, since the first ball passage and the second ball passage form independent ball passages, a ball stopper member must be provided for each, and the number of parts is reduced. There was a problem that it would increase. Furthermore, in the game store, when the supply of the game ball from the chute is actually stopped, it is necessary to stop each of the first ball passage and the second ball passage, which causes a problem that the operation is troublesome.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art, and does not cause complication of the structure of the chute, increase in size, increase in the number of parts, and inconvenience of the work, and it does not cause any trouble in the front-rear direction. It aims at providing the chute which can be installed also in the direction of.

The present invention
A plurality of games including a side wall portion, a ball passage provided in a space surrounded by the side wall portion and inclined to allow a game ball to flow down, and a ball discharge port through which the game ball is discharged. A sloping downfall is provided above the gaming machine island where the machine is disposed. The downfall has a downfall discharge port on the side, and the inclination of the ball passage and the downfall of the downfall are opposite to each other. A chute that distributes and supplies gaming balls to the gaming machine from the ball discharge port,
The side wall portion is composed of at least a front side wall portion and a rear side wall portion facing the front side wall portion, and a ball flow for allowing a game ball to flow into the chute from the downfall outlet to the front side wall portion and the rear side wall portion. With an entrance,
A ball inlet cover for blocking the inflow of the falling ball game balls is detachably provided at the ball inlets of the front side wall and the rear side wall, and a shaft body and a ball stopper are provided on the ball inlet cover, A holding portion is formed on the outer surface portion of the chute so that the shaft body can be pivotally supported, and a through hole for inserting the ball stopper from the outer surface of the chute into the chute is provided.
By removing the ball inlet cover, it is possible to allow the game ball of the falling salmon to flow into the chute, hold the removed ball inlet cover on the chute, and insert the ball stopper into the through hole to enter the ball passage. A chute characterized by being a ball stop member for blocking the passage of game balls of
Is a summary.

Moreover, this invention chute can take the following structure.
A ball inlet for a game machine ball to flow in, a side wall part, a ball path provided in a space surrounded by the side wall part and inclined to allow the game ball to flow down, and the game ball discharged The ball passage has a refracting portion, and a sloping sluice is provided above a gaming machine island where a plurality of gaming machines are disposed. A sluice discharge outlet, and is attached so that an inclination from the sphere inlet to the refracting portion of the sphere passage is opposite to an inclination of the sluice drop, and distributes game balls to the gaming machines from the sphere discharge opening; A chute to supply,
The side wall portion is composed of at least a front side wall portion and a rear side wall portion facing the front side wall portion, and a ball flow for allowing a game ball to flow into the chute from the downfall outlet to the front side wall portion and the rear side wall portion. With an entrance,
A ball inlet cover for blocking the inflow of the game ball of the falling wall is detachably provided on the ball inlet of the front side wall part and the rear side wall part,
The ball inlet cover is provided with a shaft portion and a ball stopper portion, and a holding portion is provided on the outer surface portion of the chute so that the shaft body can be pivotally supported. The ball stopper portion is connected from the outer surface of the chute to the inner ball passage. A through hole for insertion is provided on the outer surface of the chute,
By removing the ball inlet cover, it is possible to allow the game ball of the falling salmon to flow into the chute, hold the removed ball inlet cover on the chute, and insert the ball stopper into the through hole to enter the ball passage. A ball chute for blocking the passage of the game ball.

  Since the present invention chute has interchangeability in the front-rear direction by providing the ball inlet at the front and rear of the chute, the first ball path and the second ball path inclined in the same direction as the downflow basin are 1 There is no need to provide communication with two ball inlets, and only one ball passage may be provided in the front-rear direction. Therefore, it is not necessary to provide a plurality of ball stoppers, and the problem that the number of parts increases can be solved. Therefore, it is only necessary to stop one ball passage during maintenance of a gaming machine at a gaming store or replacement by replacement of gaming machines, so that the problem of troublesome work like a conventional chute can be solved. .

  In addition, since the slope of the downhole and the slope of the ball passage can be installed in the opposite direction with respect to the downside, it is possible to prevent the clogging of the balls and to smoothly supply the game balls.

  Further, as described above, the chute of the present invention only needs to have one ball passage in the front-rear direction, so that the structure is simple and the outer shape of the chute does not increase in the front-rear direction. In addition, since the ball inlet cover can be used as a ball stopper without discarding the removed ball inlet cover, resources can be used effectively.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 7, the present invention chute 1 is provided in a side wall 2 and a space surrounded by the side wall 2, and a ball passage 3 for the game ball to flow down, and the game ball is discharged. And a ball discharge port 4.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the chute 1 of the present invention is attached to the front side surface or the rear side surface of the downflow ridge 6 that is provided above the gaming machine island 5 where a plurality of gaming machines P are arranged and is inclined. In the gaming machine island 5, a plurality of gaming machines are arranged back to back (not particularly shown). The game balls discharged from each gaming machine P are collected in the lower tank arranged below the gaming machine island 5, and are transferred to the upper tank arranged above the gaming machine island 5 by the lifting device. .

  In the upper region of the gaming machine island 5, there are a plurality of curtain plates that can be opened and closed. Behind these curtain plates, an inclined flow-down rod 6 is disposed (in FIG. 2, there is no curtain plate) showed that). The game balls released from the upper tank roll inside the downflow basket 6, are distributed to the chute 1 from the downflow discharge port, and are supplied to each gaming machine or ball lending machine.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the downflow rod 6 has a passage portion 63 having a side surface portion 62 on both sides of the bottom surface 61 and formed in a concave cross section, and the game ball B inclines the passage portion 63 in the downflow rod 6. Roll along. In order to supply game balls B to a plurality of gaming machines or ball lending machines, a plurality of downfall outlets are provided on the side surface 62 of the downfall basket 6, and a chute 1 is attached to each of the downfall outlets. A mounting groove 64 is provided. In addition, as for the downfall 6, the side 62 is formed of metal and the downfall discharge port is provided in advance, and the downside is formed of synthetic resin, and the downfall is installed at a game shop or the like. In some cases, the side portion of the downflow basin is cut out according to the position where the gaming machine or the ball lending machine is installed to form the downfall basin discharge port.

  The chute 1 shown in FIG. 1 is made of a synthetic resin, and is configured such that the ball inlet cover 8a, 8b can be removed and can be removably attached to the downflow rod 6.

  As shown in FIGS. 1, 3 and 12, the side wall 2 of the chute 1 is composed of a front side wall 2a, a rear side wall 2b, a left side wall 2c, and a right side wall 2d. The part 2a and the rear side wall part 2b are provided with ball inlets (front sphere inlet 7a, rear sphere inlet 7b) for receiving game balls dropped from the downer outlet formed in the downer side 6, and the front side wall 2a and Ball inlet covers (front sphere inlet cover 8a and rear sphere inlet cover 8b) for blocking the inflow of game balls are provided on the rear side wall 2b.

  In this specification, “front” and “rear” of the chute 1 are referred to as a plan view of FIG. 4 and the lower part of the figure is the front and the upper part of the figure is the rear. The “left” and “right” of the chute are referred to as the front view of FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 1, there is a connecting portion 9 between the side wall portions 2a, 2b and the sphere inlet cover 8a, 8b, and the sphere inlet cover 8a, 8b is formed integrally with the side wall portions 2a, 2b. Yes. As shown in FIG. 4, the connecting portion 9 is formed thinner than the side wall portions 2a and 2b and the ball inlet covers 8a and 8b. The spherical inlet covers 8a and 8b are cut from the connecting portion 9 and removed from the side wall 2 of the chute, whereby the spherical inlets 7a and 7b are formed in the side walls 2a and 2b. By forming the sphere inlet cover 8a, 8b integrally with the chute in this way, there is an advantage that it can be produced by molding from the same mold, leading to improvement in production efficiency and cost reduction.

  When the chute 1 is attached to the downwell 6, either the front sphere inlet cover 8a or the rear sphere inlet cover 8b is removed, and either the front sphere inlet 7a or the rear sphere inlet 7b is removed. Use with only the ball inlet formed. FIG. 3 shows a state in which the rear sphere inlet cover 8b is removed to form the rear sphere inlet 7b (a chute in this state is called a chute A). FIG. 12 shows a state in which the front sphere inlet cover 8a is removed to form the front sphere inlet 7a (a chute in this state is called a chute B).

  As shown in FIG. 4, the chute 1 has a spherical inlet cover 8a, surrounded by a side wall portion 2 including a front side wall portion 2a, a rear side wall portion 2b, a left side wall portion 2c, and a right side wall portion 2d, A first ball path 31 having a width of approximately one game ball in the left-right direction from 8b and having a slope that decreases from the right side to the left side, and a second ball path that has a slope that decreases from the left side to the right side 32 is provided, is connected to the first spherical passage 31, and is provided with a refracting portion 33 so that the first spherical passage 31 and the second spherical passage 32 are folded back. A ball discharge port 4 is provided at the end of the second ball passage 32.

  On the outside of the chute 1, there is provided an attachment member for attaching and fixing the chute 1 to the downfall ridge 6 installed on the gaming machine island 5. As shown in FIG. 1, the mounting member includes a stepped portion 21 in which the upper outer surfaces of the front side wall portion 2a and the rear side wall portion 2b bulge outward, and a front side wall portion 2a and a rear side wall portion 2b below the stepped portion 21. It is comprised from the nail | claw part 22 provided in three places so that it may protrude, and the attachment piece 23 each provided in the front side and the rear side of the left side wall part 2c and the right side wall part 2d.

  The claw portion 22 was formed so as to be fitted into the attachment groove 64 of the flow-down rod 6. In order to attach the chute 1 to the downdraft 6, as shown in FIG. So that the attachment pieces 23 provided on both ends of the chute 1 in the left-right direction are hooked on the outer lower part of the flow rod 6.

  The game balls B that have exited from the downhole discharge port of the downhole 6 are distributed into the inside of the chute 1 through the ball inlet 7a or the ball inlet 7b of the chute 1. As shown in FIG. 7, the game ball B inside the chute 1 rolls using the inclination of the first ball passage 31, the flow direction is folded back by the refracting portion 33, the second ball passage 32 rolls, and the second ball The ball is discharged from the ball discharge port 4 at the end of the passage 32 to the outside of the chute 1 and supplied to a game ball tank or the like of the gaming machine via a bellows tube or the like (not shown) connected to the ball discharge port 4.

  The chute 1 of the present invention removes the sphere inlet cover 8a, 8b provided on the front side wall portion 2a and the rear side wall portion 2b, respectively, so that the sphere 1 has a sphere outlet on the downstream side 6 on either side of the chute 1. Open spherical inlets 7a, 7b can be formed. That is, it can be dealt with by installing the spherical inflow port so that the inclination of the spherical passage 3 is always opposite to the inclination of the downhole 6 regardless of whether it is installed before or after the downhole 6.

  Note that the chute 1 shown in FIG. 7 includes a spherical passage 3 including a first spherical passage 31, a refracting portion 33, and a second spherical passage 32, but is upstream in the chute 1 from the spherical inlet to the refracting portion. It is attached so that the inclination of the first ball passage 31 to be arranged and the inclination of the flow-down rod 6 are opposite.

  As a result, the game balls distributed to the chute from the descending fountain collide with the right side wall portion 2d of the chute 1 and are guided to the ball passage 3, and flow down through the inside of the chute 1 in the ball passage 3 in a state of being neatly aligned in one row. Therefore, it is difficult for ball clogging to occur inside the chute 1, and the game ball can flow down in a stable state. As described above, the chute 1 of the present invention can be installed in either direction before or after the downfall with one kind of chute, and the number of parts can be reduced, and the parts management can be rationalized.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the rear sphere inlet cover 8b is removed from the rear side wall portion 2b to form the sphere inlet 7b, and then attached to the lower portion of the chute 1 to hold the game in the chute 1. It is comprised so that it can be used as a ball | bowl stop member for interrupting | blocking the flow of a ball | bowl. Hereinafter, the ball stopper member will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 1, at the lower part of the outer surface of the chute 1, there is provided a holding portion 13 in which a shaft hole 12 is provided in a shaft hole piece 11 formed in a pair. As shown in FIG. 5, a mounting portion 16 is provided at one end of the rear sphere inlet cover 8b. The mounting portion 16 is a shaft body 14 corresponding to the shaft hole 12 of the holding portion 13. And the deformation part 15. Further, a ball stopper 17 and a locking boss 18 are provided on the other side. Since the spherical inlet cover 8b is made of synthetic resin, the deformable portion 15 is elastically deformed.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 7, a through hole 19 and a locking rib 20 for inserting the ball stopper 17 from the outer surface of the chute to the inside of the chute are provided at the lower portion of the outer surface of the chute 1. The through hole 19 is provided at a position in the middle of the second ball passage 32 inside the chute 1. The distance from the shaft body 14 of the rear sphere inlet cover 8b to the ball stopper 17 and the distance from the shaft hole 12 to the through hole 19 of the shaft hole piece 11 are formed to have substantially the same length.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the rear sphere inlet cover 8b removed from the side wall portion has the deformable portion 15 slightly elastically deformed, and the shaft body 14 is fitted into the shaft hole 12 provided at the lower outer surface of the chute 1, so that the shaft hole 12 It is attached so that it can rotate around the center. When blocking the flow of the game ball in the ball passage inside the chute, as shown in FIG. 8, the rear ball inlet cover 8b is rotated to insert the ball stopper 17 into the through hole 19, and the locking boss 18 Is pushed into the locking rib 20 to keep the ball stopper 17 inserted into the through hole 19. As shown in FIG. 8, when the ball stopper 17 is inserted into the through-hole, the ball stopper 17 protrudes into the second ball passage and blocks the passage of the game ball B through the second ball passage 32. It functions as a ball stop member.

  In this way, the ball inlet cover 8b is provided with the shaft body 14 and the ball stopper 17, and the holding portion 13 is formed on the outer surface portion of the chute 1 so that the shaft body 14 can be pivotally supported. By providing a through-hole 19 for inserting the ball stopper 17 inside, it is possible to allow the game ball B of the falling rod 6 to flow into the chute 1 by removing the ball inlet cover 8b, By holding the removed ball inlet cover 8b on the chute 1 and inserting the shaft body 14 into the through hole 19, a ball stopper member for blocking the passage of the game ball B in the ball passage 3 is obtained.

  As with the rear sphere inlet cover 8b, the front sphere inlet cover 8a is also provided with a mounting portion 16, a ball stopper portion 17, and a locking boss 18 including a shaft body 14 and a deformed portion 15, After forming the inflow port 7a, it is attached to the holding portion 13 at the lower outer surface of the chute 1, and the ball stopper 17 can be inserted into the chute 1 through the through hole 19 and used as a ball stopper.

  Since the front sphere inlet cover 8a and the rear sphere inlet cover 8b are both attached to the opposing side wall portions in the state before forming the ball inlet of the chute 1, the ball stoppers 17 of each other It is configured not to collide. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 9, the ball stoppers 17 of the front sphere inlet cover 8a and the rear sphere inlet cover 8b are provided at positions that are offset so that the distance from the upper end is different. It is formed so that 17 do not interfere with each other.

  In the chute shown in the present embodiment, the ball passage 3 is composed of the first ball passage 31, the refracting portion 33, and the second ball passage 32, but the chute of the present invention has only one ball passage without the refracting portion 33. You may comprise.

  Further, as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, the chute 1 according to the present invention is provided with a slide groove 41 in the connecting portion 9 with the sphere inlet covers 8a and 8b in the front and rear side wall portions 2a and 2b. By providing slide pieces 42 corresponding to the slide grooves 41 at both left and right end portions, the spherical inlet covers 8a and 8b can be configured to be detachable from the side wall portions. Thus, by making the sphere inlet cover 8a, 8b detachable, even if the sphere inlet cover 8a, 8b is once removed, the sphere inlet cover 8a, 8b is attached to the side walls 2a, 2b again. It becomes possible.

  In addition, the chute 1 of the present invention uses the claw portion 22 and the attachment piece 23 in the embodiment shown in FIG. 6 as the attachment structure to the flow-down rod 6, but without such a claw portion or attachment piece, screwing, etc. It may be configured so that it is attached to and installed on the downcomer 6 by the attaching means.

1 is an external perspective view showing an example of a chute of the present invention. It is explanatory drawing of a game machine island. FIG. 2 is an external perspective view showing a state where a rear sphere inlet of the chute of FIG. 1 is formed. FIG. 2 is a plan view of the chute of FIG. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a rear sphere inlet cover and a holding portion of the chute of FIG. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a vertical cross section in the front-rear direction in a state where the chute of FIG. FIG. 2 is a front view showing a state where the chute of FIG. FIG. 8 is a front view showing a state in which a game ball in a ball passage is blocked using the ball stopper member of FIG. FIG. 2 is an explanatory view of a ball inlet cover of the chute of FIG. It is a top view which shows the other example of this invention chute | shoot. FIG. 11 is an external perspective view showing a state where a rear sphere inlet cover of the chute of FIG. 10 is removed. FIG. 2 is an external perspective view showing a state where a front sphere inlet of the chute of FIG. 1 is formed.

Explanation of symbols

1 Shoot
2 Side wall
2a Front side wall
2b Rear side wall
2c Left side wall
2d right side wall
3 ball passage
31 1st ball passage
32 Second ball passage
33 Refraction part
4 ball outlet
5 Amusement Machine Island
6 樋 下 樋
61 Bottom surface
62 Ball passage of the downfall
63 Side of the downfall
64 Installation groove
7a Front sphere inlet
7b Rear sphere inlet
8a Front sphere inlet cover
8b Rear sphere inlet cover
11 Shaft hole
12 Shaft hole
13 Holding part
14 shaft
15 Deformation part
16 Mounting section
17 Ball stopper
18 Locking boss
19 Through hole
20 Locking rib
P game machine
B game ball

Claims (1)

A plurality of games including a side wall portion, a ball passage provided in a space surrounded by the side wall portion and inclined to allow a game ball to flow down, and a ball discharge port through which the game ball is discharged. A sloping downfall is provided above the gaming machine island where the machine is disposed. The downfall has a downfall discharge port on the side, and the inclination of the ball passage and the downfall of the downfall are opposite to each other. A chute that distributes and supplies gaming balls to the gaming machine from the ball discharge port,
The side wall portion is composed of at least a front side wall portion and a rear side wall portion facing the front side wall portion, and a ball flow for allowing a game ball to flow into the chute from the downfall outlet to the front side wall portion and the rear side wall portion. With an entrance,
A ball inlet cover for blocking the inflow of the falling ball game balls is detachably provided at the ball inlets of the front side wall and the rear side wall, and a shaft body and a ball stopper are provided on the ball inlet cover, A holding portion is formed on the outer surface portion of the chute so that the shaft body can be pivotally supported, and a through hole for inserting the ball stopper from the outer surface of the chute into the chute is provided.
By removing the ball inlet cover, it is possible to allow the game ball of the falling salmon to flow into the chute, hold the removed ball inlet cover on the chute, and insert the ball stopper into the through hole to enter the ball passage. A ball chute for blocking the passage of the game ball.

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