JP4765359B2 - Ball dispensing device and storage tank integrated ball dispensing device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a ball payout device such as used for paying out a winning ball or a rental ball of a pachinko game machine. More specifically, the present invention relates to the efficiency of the backside of the game board while maintaining a thin shape even when the ball payout paths are arranged in parallel. The present invention relates to a ball dispensing device and a storage tank integrated ball dispensing device that can be mounted compactly.

  A conventional pachinko gaming machine (hereinafter referred to as a gaming machine), as disclosed in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, collects a ball payout passage and balls used for paying out winning balls or balls. And a ball dispensing device having a sprocket that rotates by receiving the rotational driving force of the motor and a counting sensor that counts continuously dispensed balls are mounted on the back side of the board surface of the gaming machine. ing.

  In recent years, this type of gaming machine has been demanded for a high-speed ball payout process in order to improve game performance and processing performance. However, when the speed of the ball payout process is increased, the rotation of the motor and the sprocket becomes faster, and there is a tendency that ball engagement tends to occur with high-speed start / stop control.

  By the way, since the motor attached to the back side of the board of the gaming machine has the rotation axis of the motor attached to the board side of the gaming machine in a direction perpendicular to the board, the ball payout device is provided by the length of the motor in the lateral direction (outer diameter length). It is wide and occupies a lot of lateral space. Furthermore, in order to pay out the ball at high speed, if the sprocket is made larger by increasing the number of teeth, the ball payout device becomes wider by the amount of the larger diameter. Also, in the ball passage, when the ball passage is provided on the back side of the board of the gaming machine, the ball passage is folded back into an S shape so that excessive ball pressure from above can be restricted. However, it becomes wider by the amount of protrusion that curves in the lateral direction. It occupied a lot of horizontal arrangement space. As a result, it has been difficult to increase the size of the symbol display device or the like attached to the back side of the board surface of the gaming machine due to restrictions on the mounting space on the back side of the board surface of the gaming machine (see Patent Document 1).

  Further, since the ball removal passage attached to the back side of the board surface of the gaming machine is provided independently of the ball dispensing passage, the ball dispensing device becomes wider by the space for the ball removal passage. For this reason, if the speed is increased, the occupied space in the width direction of the gaming machine increases, and it becomes difficult to enlarge the symbol display device attached to the back side of the board surface of the gaming machine. When installing a gaming machine in the game hall, there arises a problem that it becomes impossible to install the gaming machine due to interference with facilities in the gaming hall such as pachinko island pillars and bill transport devices in the gaming hall.

  In particular, when the output from the motor is transmitted to the sprocket, the power transmission component is connected in the axial direction of the sprocket (side surface direction of the sprocket) in the arrangement configuration in which a power transmission component such as a gear or a belt is combined. For this reason, the width direction of the sprocket tends to be large, and there has been a limit in reducing the width of the sprocket and reducing the thickness.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-17701 JP-A-10-155997

  Therefore, the present invention enables a thin payout structure to reduce the space in the width direction by reducing the thickness of the power transmission structure built in for driving the rotating body when the ball payout device is thinned. An object of the present invention is to provide a ball dispensing device and a storage tank integrated ball dispensing device.

The present invention has a cylindrical body, and in the circumferential direction of the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical body, there is a slit formed by equally dividing the circumferential direction, and the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body In the circumferential direction, there is a feeding claw for equally rotating the circumferential direction on both sides in the axial direction of the cylindrical body to rotate and feed the balls one by one, and the feeding claws on both sides in the axial direction are connected. the connection wall formed on the outer peripheral surface center of said tubular body, a rotating body to form an intermediate gear for driving the feed pawl at the periphery of the connecting wall, wherein disposed in the outer circumferential direction of the intermediate gear and the intermediate Power transmission means for transmitting power to the gear, a motor for transmitting power to the rotating body via the power transmission means, and the axial direction of the rotating body of the rotating body, power transmission means and motor are parallel to each other. with aligned by at least the rotating body on the outer peripheral surface axial direction within the width of the rotating body, the power transmitting means A casing comprising an internal micro-motor, is formed on the inner surface of the casing, has an outer peripheral surface opposite to the circumferential direction to form a passage wall of said rotary member, said ball by the feed pawl of the rotary body An annular passage that rotates in a circumferential direction along the passage wall, a detection sensor that is attached to the casing and detects an inflow / outflow state of a sphere, and is disposed inward of the rotating body, and the slit A rotation position detection sensor that detects the rotation position of the rotating body and detects a ball supplied from above by the rotation of the rotating body through a circular passage downward. Features.

According to this invention, the rotating body has a feed claw for ball feeding on both sides, and has an intermediate gear for power transmission therebetween. For this reason, although the rotating body is a single part, it can have both functions of a two-row ball feeding function and a power transmission function for receiving power from the motor, and as a single part having a composite function in the casing. It can be built in efficiently.

In addition, since the intermediate gear is located in the center of the rotating body width direction, the axial lengths of the motor and the power transmission component can be arranged closer to the center of the rotating body width direction (axial direction). It is possible to incorporate the rotary body within the width of the rotating body. For this reason, the space in the width direction is not increased, the width direction of the ball dispensing device is shortened, and a reduction in thickness suitable for mounting in a small space where the mounting space is limited can be achieved.

Particularly, in the intermediate gear, the outer peripheral portion of the connecting wall located at the center between the feeding claws on both sides is formed as a driving gear. For this reason, it becomes possible to arrange the power transmission means for transmitting the power to the intermediate gear located at the center of the rotating body at the center in the width direction of the rotating body. As a result, the power transmission means can be arranged corresponding to the width of the rotating body, and the power transmission means can be arranged compactly so that the power transmission means is contained within the width of the rotating body. For example, the power transmission means can be provided directly below the rotator, and the rotator and power transmission means can be narrowed above and below the casing to form an internal configuration.

Moreover, since the rotating body is a cylindrical body, a slit for detecting the rotational position can be formed inward. Furthermore, a rotational position detection sensor for detecting the slit can be incorporated and arranged inside the rotating body.

Furthermore, when thinning the ball payout device, for example, when the ball payout device is arranged on the back side of the board surface of the game table, the radial direction of the rotating body is arranged in a direction perpendicular to the board surface, and the axial direction is the board surface. They can be arranged in parallel directions. For this reason, the arrangement | positioning space of the horizontal direction of a ball dispensing apparatus becomes small. As a result, the central space on the back side of the board of the game table can be widened, and other members such as a symbol display device arranged here can be provided with a large size. In particular, when shortening the ball dispensing device in the width direction, the ball width can be reduced by reducing the width of the passage for two parallel balls.

In another configuration of the invention, it is formed on the inner surface of the casing, from the parallel spheres supply port opening has been sphere is supplied in parallel to the upper side edge, up to the annular passage in parallel with the lower end side by side between the top and bottom with a waiting path in parallel to stand in parallel a plurality of balls for ball waiting in the waiting path communicating with the vertical direction, in parallel to the left and right from the vertically aligned position where the cross section is parallel to the longitudinal In the case of changing the direction to the position, it is possible to configure a ball payout position that includes a direction changing unit that twists only the other passage side by side by 90 degrees in parallel with respect to one passage that is parallel to the front and rear .

  According to the present invention, in order to realize a high speed of ball payout, since there are two flow paths from supply to payout, the shortage of supply of balls from above is resolved, and by providing a standby passage, The number of balls required for payout can be supplied immediately. Accordingly, when the ball is paid out, it is possible to wait while a ball pressure suitable for high-speed supply is applied in the standby passage, so that the ball can be lowered relatively quickly by its own weight and supplied to the lower annular passage without being broken. Therefore, the supply ball suitable for high speed can be handled.

  The waiting passage only needs to be longer than the passage length for storing and waiting for a predetermined number of payouts in the longitudinal passage, and the longitudinal passage and the oblique passage may be combined. What is necessary is just to form in the vertical direction path | route which can fully obtain speed. Accordingly, when the balls are paid out, the balls supplied to the annular passage are not interrupted, and the number of payouts can be supplied immediately and stably.

In addition, even if the parallel direction of the standby passage paralleled upward and the annular passage paralleled downward is different, it can be aligned in the same parallel direction by the direction changer, so the direction of both passages is suitable for space saving. It can arrange | position corresponding to.

The direction changer converts the direction of the two parallel passages by 90 degrees, and in the passage leading in the up-down direction, for example, the horizontal section is arranged side by side from the vertical side-by-side parallel side-by-side position. When the direction is changed, it is only necessary to twist only the other vertical passage to the side-by-side position by 90 degrees on the basis of one longitudinal passage parallel to the front and rear, and as a result, both passages are directed from the side-by-side position to the side-by-side position. Can be changed. At this time, the direction changing portion only needs to have a twist space for one passage, and can be efficiently formed in a space-saving manner. Further, the inflow and outflow of the sphere can be monitored by the detection sensor, and the number of the spheres can be counted.

  Even in the ball dispensing device having such a configuration, the axial lengths of the motor and the power transmission component can be arranged close to the center in the width direction of the rotating body so as to fit within the width of the rotating body. It can be shortened and built in.

  In another configuration of the present invention, a ball outlet that opens downward along one half circumference of the annular passage and a ball outlet that opens downward along the other half circumference are provided downstream of the annular passage. be able to.

  According to the present invention, the entire circumference of the annular passage can be effectively utilized by using the half circumference of the annular passage as the ball discharge passage and the other half circumference as the ball removal passage. For this reason, it is not necessary to newly provide a ball removal passage, and two types of passages can be formed by only one annular passage, thereby reducing the size of the ball dispensing device.

In another configuration of the invention, downstream of the annular passage, formed by the ball detection position of the passage which is branched and connected from the annular passageway, so as to correspond to both openings in parallel to the opening of the annular passage 2 One part of the sensor in different levels by polymerizing can be disposed.

  According to the present invention, when the annular detection sensors for detecting the spheres by passing through the holes are arranged in the parallel passages, respectively, by arranging a part of the annular portions of the two annular detection sensors, The position of each detection sensor provided can be arranged closer to the center, and can be arranged and configured so as not to protrude from the outer surface in the width direction of the casing, thereby contributing to a reduction in thickness.

  In another structure of this invention, the pitch of the feed claw formed in parallel with the outer peripheral surface of the said rotary body can be comprised by shifting by half a pitch in the circumferential direction between the parallel side and the other side.

  According to the present invention, the annular passages are paid out from the two flow paths parallel to each other by the rotational operation of the rotating bodies that rotate and feed in parallel. At this time, the parallel feed claws are shifted by a half pitch in the circumferential direction, and finally Is provided so as to pay out balls one by one from the annular passage. Further, since the ball can be discharged at a high speed by providing two annular passages, it is not necessary to rotate the rotating body at a high speed, and the generation of the ball engagement can be reduced by the amount that can be decelerated.

  It is possible to configure a storage tank-integrated ball dispensing device in which the ball dispensing device is provided in a vertical shape, and is integrally connected in a reverse L shape with a horizontal storage tank on the upstream side of the ball dispensing device. .

  By using such a storage tank integrated ball payout device, when the ball payout device is arranged on the back side of the board surface of the game table, the storage tank is disposed horizontally on the upper side of the back side of the board surface, and the side portion thereof. A ball payout device connected vertically can be integrated and disposed. In particular, since it has the same inverted L shape as the inverted L shape at the upper corner of the game table, it can be efficiently arranged without wasted space. Also, when installing, the storage tank integrated ball dispensing device can be easily attached as a single component.

  According to this invention, the number of parts can be reduced by incorporating a single rotating body integrally having a feed claw and an intermediate gear, and each power transmission component is brought closer to the center in the width direction of the rotating body. The ball dispensing device can be thinned even if the passages are arranged in parallel. Therefore, it is possible to realize a reduction in thickness and size suitable for mounting on the back side of the game table.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows the back side of a gaming table 11 of a pachinko gaming machine. A storage tank-integrated ball dispensing device 12 having a ball storage function is disposed in the upper corner of the gaming table 11 on the back side. A substrate unit 13 having a large display device, a control unit, and the like is disposed in the center of the back side. Furthermore, a replenishment chute (not shown) is provided above the storage tank integrated ball dispensing device 12 so as to face the upper surface opening, and the storage tank integrated ball dispensing device 12 is replenished with balls via the replenishment chute. The Further, a payout passage 14 is connected to the lower part of the storage tank integrated ball payout device 12, and the balls are paid out to a tray located at the lower front of the game table 11 through the payout passage 14.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the storage tank-integrated ball dispensing device 12 is integrated in a reverse L shape by detachably attaching a storage tank 15 installed horizontally and a ball dispensing device 16 installed vertically. Connected to. And the upper end part of the ball paying device 16 is connected to the downstream side end part of the horizontally long storage tank 15, thereby adopting a compact unit structure in which both are integrated.

  Further, the storage tank-integrated ball dispensing device 12 has the storage tank 15 at the most upstream position, and on the downstream side thereof, the top 17 for aligning the balls and the ball breaking mechanism 18, and the ball passage restricting mechanism 19 for stopping the ball, The ball dispensing device 16 is connected in this order. Further, a vertically long connecting frame 20 is attached to the mounting surface side of the ball paying device 16, and the storage tank integrated ball paying device 12 is fixedly installed on the back side of the game table 11 through the connecting frame 20.

  In this case, the storage tank-integrated ball dispensing device 12 has an inverted L shape that is the same as the inverted L shape of the upper corner of the game table 11 and can therefore be disposed along the upper corner. There is no wasted space on the back side, and it can be arranged efficiently. In addition, since the storage tank integrated ball dispensing device 12 can be handled as a single component, it can be easily attached.

Next, the ball dispensing device 16 will be specifically described.
FIGS. 3 and 4 show the appearance of the ball dispensing device 16, and FIGS. 5 and 6 show the internal structure of the ball dispensing device 16. The internal structure of the ball dispensing device 16 includes a rotating body (sprocket wheel) 31, a drive motor M, a ball presence / absence detecting sensor S1, a ball counting sensor S2, and a rotational position detecting sensor for confirming the rotational position of the rotating body 31. S3, the left casing 32 which covers and incorporates these from both sides, the right casing 33, and the passage partition plate 34 interposed between the left and right casings 32, 33.

  The left and right casings 32 and 33 serve as support walls 32A and 33A that support each component of the ball dispensing device 16, and serve as passage walls 32B and 33B that form a spherical passage inside. . Of these, left and right standby passages 35a and 35b are formed in the upper part of the passage wall 32B, and left and right annular passages 36a and 36b having substantially the same structure are formed in the lower part, and these passages 35a, 35b, 36a and 36b are formed. Are arranged so as to communicate with each other vertically.

  The upper end openings of the standby passages 35a and 35b are connected to the ball supply port 37 and the lower end opening is connected to the annular communication port 36c as an inlet portion that opens right above the lower annular passages 36a and 36b. On the other hand, the left and right annular passages 36a and 36b have respective annular communication openings 36c opened right above as inlets, and each ball payout outlet 38 opened at one lower end side as an outlet. In this case, parts configured as a pair of left and right such as the ball supply port 37 and the ball payout port 38 are denoted by the same reference numerals and omitted.

  The left casing 32 and the right casing 33 are divided into left and right parts, and both are screwed to form a single body, and the left and right outer surfaces are respectively provided on vertical walls F1 and F2 as shown in FIG. Yes. Thereby, it becomes a simple single body, and when attaching a ball dispensing device, the outer vertical wall F2 can be attached to the attachment wall surface. For this reason, a useless installation space is eliminated and the installation performance is improved.

  The rotating body 31 described above has a cylindrical body, and feed claws 39 for dividing and feeding spheres one by one are equally arranged in the circumferential direction on both axial sides of the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body. There are two consecutive feeding sections. The feed claws 39 of the two feed units arranged in parallel are formed so as to obtain one feed from the left and right with a half pitch shift.

  Further, an intermediate gear G1 for rotating the sprocket is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the connecting wall between the left and right feed claws 39. In the annular direction of the inner peripheral surface of the rotating body 31, a rotational position detecting slit 40 that is equally divided and formed is provided. Further, cylindrical shafts 31a and 31b projecting outward from the shaft center portion are provided on both end faces of the rotating body 31, and bearing bushes 41 and 42 are fitted to the cylindrical shafts 31a and 31b, respectively. In this state, one is inserted into the shaft support hole 32a of the left casing 32, and the other is inserted into the shaft support hole 33a of the right casing 33 to rotatably support the rotating body 31.

  For power transmission to the rotating body 31, a driven pulley 45 for transmitting power from the driving pulley 43 connected to the main shaft of the driving motor M to the rotating body 31 via the driving belt 44 is supported on the motor bracket 46. The left and right casings 32 and 33 are disposed. A driven gear G2 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the other end of the driven pulley 45, and the drive motor M is driven in a state where the driven gear G2 and the intermediate gear G1 of the rotating body 31 are engaged with each other. The rotating body 31 is rotated. The motor bracket 46 is integrally fixed to the passage partition plate 34, and a drive motor M is fixedly installed on the motor bracket 46. Further, the driven pulley 45 is pivotally supported on the motor bracket 46 via a small-diameter bearing bush 47. is doing.

  Exclusion ports 32b and 33b opened for removing foreign substances from an annular passage, which will be described later, are formed on a part of the upper and lower side surfaces of the casings 32 and 33, respectively. By providing these exclusion ports 32b and 33b, foreign matter in the annular passage is dropped and excluded from the exclusion ports 32b and 33b.

  On the other hand, the drive motor M and the rotating body 31 are interposed between the left and right casings 32, 33, and a passage partition plate 34 for partitioning a longitudinal passage parallel to both sides to the left and right to form both passages. Are connected in a state of interposing.

  The drive motor M is arranged in the lower part between the left and right casings 32, 33 so that the axial direction of the drive motor M is aligned with the axial direction of the rotating body 31. A hollow portion 32c opened in a circular shape for motor intervention is provided, and the drive motor M is accommodated in the hollow portion 32c.

  Thereby, the axial direction of the drive motor M and the power transmission component is aligned between the left and right casings 32 and 33, and the axial direction (width direction) of the ball dispensing device 16 is shortened to reduce the thickness. Can be planned. Similarly, the ball payout device 16 can be made thin by dividing the rotating body 31 and the drive motor M into the left and right casings 32 and 33 by dividing them into upper and lower positions.

  In this case, as shown in FIG. 7, the rotating body 31 has feed claws 39 on both sides and an intermediate gear G1 between them. And a power transmission function, and can be efficiently incorporated between the left and right casings 32 and 33. In particular, since the intermediate gear G1 is located in the center of the sprocket width direction, the axial lengths of the power transmission components such as the drive motor M, the drive pulley 43, the drive belt 44, the driven pulley 45, and the driven gear G2 are set to the rotating body 31. It is possible to dispose them closer to the center of the rotary body 31 and to incorporate them so as to fit within the width of the rotating body 31. For this reason, even if the two paths parallel to the left and right of the ball dispensing device 16 are configured, the space in the width direction is not increased, the width direction of the ball dispensing device 16 can be shortened, and the installation space is limited. Thinning suitable for mounting in a small space can be achieved.

  Between the upper inner surface of the left casing 32 and the upper facing surface of the passage partition plate 34 facing the upper casing, and between the upper inner surface of the right casing 33 and the upper facing surface of the passage partition plate 34 facing the upper casing. Further, standby passages 35a and 35b are formed which connect in parallel an upper ball supply port 37, which will be described later, to a lower annular passage 36a and 36b in parallel.

  The standby passages 35a and 35b are provided as upstream direction change passages as shown in the internal structure from the side surface direction shown in FIG. 8 and the internal structure from the front direction shown in FIGS. 48 and a downstream ball flow lower pressure limiting passage 49 are formed by connecting them vertically. First, the direction change passage 48 has a sphere supply port 37 that opens in parallel to the upper portions of the left and right casings 32 and 33, and the sphere supply port 37 is connected corresponding to the upstream side. When changing the direction of the lower side of the connected parallel passages, it is only necessary to twist only the other vertical passage in the side-by-side position with respect to one of the longitudinal passages arranged in parallel in the front-and-rear direction.

  Thereby, both the vertical passages are aligned by changing the direction from the vertically aligned position to the horizontally aligned position. Then, below the ball supply port 37, the direction of the spheres P flowing down in the front and rear two rows is changed in the left and right rows. By providing the direction changing passage 48, the annular passages 36a and 36b parallel to the lower side can be aligned in the same parallel direction, so that the directions of the two parallel passages can correspond to the direction suitable for space saving. it can.

  The downstream ball flow pressure limiting passage 49 is formed obliquely below the upstream direction changing passage 48, and is formed as a passage that reduces the ball pressure caused by the flow of the ball P by a reverse bent portion. . As a result, the sphere P flowing down from the upstream side passes through the sphere flow down pressure limiting passage 49 while undergoing a direction changing action by the bent portion, and based on this, the sphere P has a ball pressure suitable for the flow down. It will be restricted and flow down. As a result, the spherical passages 36a and 36b continuing below the rear stage are supplied with the ball pressure adjusted to be suitable for dispensing.

  Furthermore, the passage lengths of the standby passages 35a and 35b have passage lengths for storing and waiting for a predetermined number of payouts in the longitudinal and oblique passages. For this reason, since the number of balls collected in advance can be stored and waited in the standby passage, the balls P supplied to the annular passages 36a and 36b are not interrupted when the balls are paid out, and the collected payout numbers can be supplied immediately. it can. For this reason, it is possible to stably dispense the supply of the balls P without stagnation.

  The annular passages 36a and 36b are connected to the lower side of the standby passages 35a and 35b in the same parallel direction, and the passage walls 32B and 33B on the inner peripheral surface at the center height position of the left and right casings 32 and 33 and the rotating body 31. This is a passage space between the annular opposing surfaces formed between the outer peripheral surfaces of the spheres, and constitutes an annular passage in which the balls P led here are rotated and fed by the feed claws 39 one by one.

  A half circumference of the annular passages 36a and 36b is used as a ball discharge passage 36d (see FIG. 14). Since the balls P guided to the annular passages 36a and 36b are rotated one by one as the rotating body 31 rotates, the supplied balls P are continuously paid out without interruption.

  A ball presence / absence detection sensor S1 using a contact switch for detecting the passage of the sphere P is disposed in the sphere supply port 37 at the entrance opening on the upper surfaces of the standby passages 35a and 35b. Detect that P is supplied.

  The ball payout passage 36d is connected to a ball payout outlet 38 which is an outlet opening as a terminal portion, and a ball counting sensor S2 using a proximity sensor is disposed in the passage portion of the ball payout outlet 38, and the ball payout passage 36d. When the ball P is paid out, the ball counting sensor S2 detects the counted ball P and counts it.

  Further, a rotational position detection sensor S3 for detecting the slit 40 on the rotating body 31 is provided on the outer surface of the left casing 32 so as to face inward from a side opening 50 opened below the left casing 32. It arrange | positions through the metal fitting 51. FIG. This rotational position detection sensor S3 detects the rotational position of the rotating body 31 from the number of detections of the slit 40 that rotates integrally with the rotating body 31.

  A ball removal passage 36e is formed at a position on the opposite half circumference facing the ball discharge passage 36d. The ball extraction passage 36e connects between the position of the annular communication port 36c corresponding to the top of the annular passages 36a and 36b and the ball extraction port 52 that opens downward, and is stored in the storage tank 15. P is used when the clerk collects the collected balls as a collection ball to empty the storage tank.

  In this case, the ball extraction passage 36e is formed on the outer peripheral wall surface of the annular passages 36a and 36b as a half-circular passage on the side opposite to the ball discharge passage 36d, and above the ball extraction passage 36e, the outer periphery of the rotating body 31 is formed. It is a smooth semicircular passage where the sphere P does not contact the feed claw 39 along the wall surface, and a straight tubular passage connected to the lower ball outlet 52 at the lower part. For this reason, contact with the feed claw 39 is avoided, and the flow resistance of the sphere P that flows down when the ball is removed is reduced.

  Further, since the ball discharge passage 36d and the ball removal passage 36e can be efficiently divided into one and the other in the left and right casings 32 and 33, a new space dedicated to the ball removal passage is unnecessary. Become.

  By the way, since the ball P that is rotationally fed by receiving the rotational force of the rotating body 31 is transmitted with the final starting force transmitted in the circumferential direction, the ball P can be discharged at a high speed by rotating the rotating body 31 at a high speed. In addition, since the ball counting sensor S2 is disposed in the ball payout passage 36d, the ball counting sensor S2 detects the ball P immediately after the completion of payout, which is no longer subjected to rotational feed, and can be detected at a fast timing. .

  Further, since the presence / absence of the supplied sphere P can be detected by disposing the sphere presence / absence detection sensor S1 in the upper sphere supply port 37, when the absence of the sphere P is detected, the occurrence of the sphere breakage or clogging occurs Can be detected to prevent empty capture. Accordingly, at this time, the supply operation and payout of the ball P can be restricted. By providing both of these sensors S1 and S2, the flow of the sphere P in the sphere dispenser 16 can be accurately managed from both detection signals for supplying and dispensing the sphere P.

  The ball counting sensor S2 has an annular opening for detecting the passage of the sphere P by passing the sphere P through the annular hole, and the ball dispensing passage 36d for allowing the sphere P to flow down in parallel. These are arranged in parallel on the left and right. In this case, the two annular sphere counting sensors S2 can be arranged near the center by arranging the adjacent annular portions adjacent to each other in a superposed manner. The left and right casings 32 and 33 can be arranged and configured not to protrude from the outer surfaces in the width direction.

  By the way, a flow path switching mechanism 53 for switching the flow paths of the ball discharge path 36d and the ball discharge path 36e is provided at the annular communication port 36c corresponding to the connection position between the standby paths 35a, 35b and the circular paths 36a, 36b. Yes. The flow path switching mechanism 53 includes a manual operation lever 54 for switching the flow path, a flow path switching block 55, and a flow path switching lever 56.

  The manual operation lever 54 has a rhombus shape with rounded ends, and the center portion of the rhombus shape can be rotated along the outer wall surface (vertical wall F1) of the left casing 32 with a mounting screw 57. It is pivotally supported. As shown in FIG. 12 (A), the manual operation lever 54 having the mounting screw 57 as a rotation fulcrum is slightly rotated to one side along the vertical wall F1, and the internal flow path described later is set to one side. Switch. Also, as shown in FIG. 12B, when it is rotated a little to the other along the vertical wall F1, the internal flow path described later is switched to the other.

  The amount of rotation of the manual operation lever 54 is such that one end of the manual operation lever 54 is interposed between the upper and lower stopper pins 58a and 58b protruding from the upper and lower positions of the outer surface of the left casing 32, One of the lower surfaces is brought into contact with one of the upper and lower stopper pins 58a or 58b during rotation, and the amount of rotation of the manual operation lever 54 is restricted. Further, at one end of the manual operation lever 54, a pin engaging hole 54a for engaging a pin 55a of a flow path switching block 55 described later is opened.

  As shown in FIG. 13, the above-described flow path switching block 55 has a pin 55 a protruding from one side surface having a box shape, and the pin 55 a is directed to the vertically long through hole 60 of the right casing 33 from the inside to the outside. The pin 55a penetrated to the outside is engaged with the pin engaging hole 54a of the manual operation lever 54.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, the structure for sliding the flow path switching block 55 is a vertically long slide that allows the flow path switching block 55 to slide in the vertical direction on the inner surface of the left casing 32. It has a moving space 61 and has a sliding support structure in which the flow path switching block 55 is accommodated and reciprocated with a certain stroke in the vertical direction.

  In this case, the flow path switching block 55 is set as a sliding guide surface that slides up and down on the outer surfaces facing the near side (rear surface) and the far side (front surface) as viewed from the back side of the game table. The front and rear inner surfaces of the sliding space 61 corresponding to the front and rear outer surfaces are set as the sliding guide portion 62 to allow the flow path switching block 55 to slide in the vertical direction.

  Further, on the front side where the flow path switching block 55 and the sliding guide portion 62 are in sliding contact with each other, a convex elastic corresponding piece 63 that is allowed to advance and retreat in the front-rear direction is cantilevered on the front surface of the flow path switching block 55. An upper positioning recess 64 and a lower positioning recess 65 are positioned at the upper and lower positions of the front sliding guide 62 corresponding to the elastic corresponding piece 63 and positioned corresponding to the elastic corresponding piece 63 and the concave portion. is doing.

  In this case, the elastic corresponding piece 63 is positioned in the sliding process by causing the tip of the elastic corresponding piece 63 to project in a semicircular shape and making the semicircular portion of the elastic corresponding piece 63 correspond to the concave and convex portions 64 and 65 on the upper and lower sides. It is. For this reason, the flow path switching block 55 is fitted with the elastic corresponding piece 63 of the flow path switching block 55 corresponding to either one of the upper and lower positioning recesses 64 and 65.

  The flow path switching lever 56 is pivotally supported by a lever shaft 59 horizontally mounted between the left and right casings 32, 33, and is suspended on the lever shaft 59, and the upper standby passage 35 a, 35b and the lower annular passages 36a and 36b are interposed at the position of the annular communication port 36c corresponding to the upper and lower connections.

  The connecting portions of the upper standby passages 35a and 35b and the lower annular passages 36a and 36b are slanted downward on the downstream side of the standby passages 35a and 35b, whereas the ball discharge passages of the annular passages 36a and 36b are provided. 36d is connected to the top of the ball payout passage 36d correspondingly below (see FIG. 8). Therefore, the direction change is necessary to connect both the upper and lower passages, and the direction change flow path switching lever 56 is provided in the passage connection portion. By this flow path switching lever 56, the sphere P is guided to flow downward from diagonally upward by the flow path switching lever 56 and guided to the ball payout passage 36d.

  At the time of normal ball payout (see FIGS. 14 and 15), the contact surface 55 b on the lower front surface side of the flow path switching block 55 is the center of the flow path switching lever 56 at the position where the flow path switching block 55 is moved downward. , And the rotation of the flow path switching lever 56 is restricted in the direction of the ball payout direction. In other words, the flow path switching lever 56 is in contact with a position where the direction of the sphere P is changed 90 degrees downward, which is suitable for guiding the sphere P from obliquely upward to the sphere payout passage 36d. The shape of the flow path switching lever 56 is curved on an arcuate guide surface 56a suitable for smoothing the flow of the sphere P.

  On the other hand, the connecting portion between the upper standby passages 35a and 35b and the lower ball passage 36e corresponds to the top of the ball passage 36e in the same direction as the inclined direction in which the downstream side of the standby passages 35a and 35b is inclined downward. Connected. In other words, if the flow path switching lever 56 does not exist, the ball removal passage 36e in the same direction as the obliquely downward direction on the downstream side of the standby passages 35a and 35b can be connected and linearly connected. Accordingly, if the flow path switching lever 56 located at this connection portion is switched to a freely rotating state that can be retracted by the flow-down pressure of the sphere P, the position restricting action of the flow path switching lever 56 is released. The ball P flowing down from the waiting passages 35a, 35b obliquely downward flows down to the ball removal passage 36e while pushing down the flow path switching lever 56 by its own weight (see FIG. 17). Led.

  Therefore, at the time of ball removal, as shown in FIGS. 16 and 17, it is only necessary to move the flow path switching block 55 up and down. As a result, the contact surface 55a on the back side of the lower end of the flow path switching block 55 is also moved up and retracted, and the flow path switching lever 56 is released from the rotation restriction and becomes free. As a result, the sphere P supplied from the upper standby passages 35a and 35b, due to its own weight, proceeds straight downward obliquely to the sphere removal passage 36e, and flows down the sphere removal passage 36e to start the sphere removal. In the figure, 66 is a relay board, and 67 is an auxiliary cover.

Next, the ball P payout processing operation in the storage tank integrated ball payout device 12 configured as described above will be described.
In the storage tank 15 of the storage tank-integrated ball payout device 12 installed at the upper part on the back side of the board surface of the game table 11, a large number of balls P are stored in a payout standby state. From this standby state, when a payout signal of the ball P is input from a main control unit (not shown) that controls the entire pachinko gaming machine, the drive motor M and the rotating body 31 are driven to rotate forward (rotate clockwise). Based on this driving, the balls P in the storage tank 15 flow downward in order. In this flow-down process, the ball P rolls due to its own weight, flows down while being aligned in two rows, and is guided to the ball discharge device 16 on the downstream side.

  In this ball paying device 16, the supplied ball P is guided to the ball paying passage 36d by the forward transfer operation of the rotating body 31. As a result, the ball P is continuously lowered and the determined number of balls is paid out. Then, the paid-out ball P is paid out to the upper plate on the front side of the game table.

  Normally, at the time of paying out the ball, as shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, the attendant turns the manual operation lever 54 in the counterclockwise direction in advance to move the flow path switching block 55 downward. At this time, the flow path switching block 55 is positioned by fitting the elastic corresponding piece 63 of the flow path switching block 55 into the lower positioning recess 65 of the front surface of the left casing 32, and from the ball passage 36e. When switching to the ball payout passage 36d, the elastic corresponding piece 63 of the flow path switching block 55 is in sliding contact with the sliding guide portion 62 on the front surface of the left casing 32. In this sliding contact process, the elastic corresponding piece 63 is elastically displaced inward. When it corresponds to the lower positioning recess 65, it is elastically returned to the outside and fitted to complete the positioning, and the ball payout passage 36d is established. Further, when the flow path switching block 55 moves downward, the flow path switching lever 56 comes into contact with the abutment surface 55b of the flow path switching block 55 to guide downward flow, and the passage path of the sphere P is changed. It will be switched to the ball payout passage 36d. Thereby, the sphere P flowing down from the upstream standby passages 35a and 35b is guided to the ball payout passage 36d and rotated and fed by the rotating body 31.

  Next, when a large number of balls P held in the storage tank-integrated ball dispensing device 12 are removed, as shown in FIGS. 16 and 17, the clerk turns the manual operation lever 54 clockwise as shown in FIGS. , The elastic corresponding piece 63 of the flow path switching block 55 is detached from the lower positioning recess 65, and the flow path switching block 55 moves upward.

  At this time, the flow path switching block 55 is positioned so that the elastic corresponding piece 63 of the flow path switching block 55 is elastically displaced inward by slidingly contacting the sliding guide portion 62 on the front surface of the left casing 32, and is provided in the left casing 32. When it corresponds to the upper positioning recess 64 on the upper side, the elastic corresponding piece 63 is elastically restored to the outside and fitted. As a result, the positioning is completed and the ball removal passage 36e is established.

  In this way, by sliding the flow path switching block 55 upward, the flow path switching lever 56 comes out of contact with the contact surface 55b of the flow path switching block, and the flow path switching lever 56 can be freely rotated. Let me. As a result, the sphere P that has flowed diagonally downward from the upper standby passages 35a, 35b passes straightly in the diagonally downward direction while pushing away the flow path switching lever 56 by its own weight, so the flow direction of the sphere P is It switches to the ball removal passage 36e and guides the ball P flowing down from the standby passages 35a and 35b to the ball removal passage 36e.

  In this case, the sphere P guided to the sphere removal passage 36e is not subjected to the driving force by the feed pawl 39, descends in the cylindrical passage, and descends the sphere removal passage 36e by its own weight and is extracted. For this reason, the ball is stably removed without being affected electrically by a power failure or the like. The ball descending from the ball removal passage 36e is guided from a ball removal collection passage (not shown) connected downward to a ball collection passage (not shown) connected to the back side of the board surface of the game table 11.

In correspondence between the configuration of the present invention and the configuration of the above-described embodiment,
The gear of the present invention corresponds to the intermediate gear G1 of the embodiment,
Similarly,
The output gear corresponds to the driven gear G2,
The drive means corresponds to the drive motor M, the drive pulley 43 as the power transmission means, the drive belt 44, the driven pulley 45, and the driven gear G2, but the present invention is based on the technical idea described in the claims. The present invention can be applied based on the above, and is not limited to the configuration of the above-described embodiment.

  For example, by providing a micro switch or the like in the flow path switching lever 56 and checking the ball path switching state by the flow path switching lever 56, it is monitored so that the ball is not accidentally switched to the ball removal path 36e when the ball is paid out. You may make it the structure to carry out.

The principal part rear view which shows the board surface back side of a game stand provided with the storage tank integrated ball | bowl delivery device. The external appearance perspective view which shows a storage tank integrated ball | bowl delivery apparatus. The external appearance perspective view which shows a ball dispensing apparatus. The front view which shows a ball dispensing apparatus. The exploded perspective view seen from the front side of the ball dispensing device. The exploded perspective view seen from the back side of the ball dispensing device. The external appearance perspective view which shows the power transmission state of a rotary body. The vertical side view which shows the channel | path structure of a ball dispensing apparatus. The side view of a ball dispensing apparatus. FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 9. The principal part expansion vertical front view of a ball delivery apparatus. The perspective view which shows the state which operated the manual operation lever to one side and the other. The external appearance perspective view of a flow-path switching block. The longitudinal section side view which shows the ball paying-out state of a ball paying-out apparatus. The principal part expansion vertical side view which shows the operation state of the flow-path switching lever at the time of ball paying-out. The longitudinal section side view which shows the ball removal state of a ball dispensing apparatus. The principal part expansion vertical side view which shows the operation state of the flow-path switching lever at the time of ball removal.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Game stand 12 ... Storage tank integrated type ball delivery apparatus 15 ... Storage tank 16 ... Ball delivery apparatus 31 ... Rotating body 32, 33 ... Casing 32B, 33B ... Passage wall 35a, 35b ... Standby passage 36a, 36b ... Annular passage 48 ... Direction change passage S2 ... Ball counting sensor M ... Drive motor F1, F2 ... Vertical wall G1 ... Intermediate gear

Claims (6)

The cylindrical body has a slit formed in the circumferential direction of the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical body by dividing the circumferential direction into notches, and in the circumferential direction of the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body. The cylindrical body having feeding claws for rotating and feeding the balls one by one by equally dividing the circumferential direction on both axial sides of the cylindrical body, and connecting the feeding claws on both axial sides A rotating body in which a connecting wall is formed at the center of the outer peripheral surface, and an intermediate gear for driving the feed claw is formed on the outer peripheral portion of the connecting wall ;
A power transmission means for transmitting power to the intermediate gear is disposed in the outer circumferential direction of the intermediate gear,
A motor for transmitting power to the rotating body via the power transmission means;
The rotating body, the power transmission means and the motor are aligned in parallel with the axis direction of the rotating shaft body, and at least the rotating body, the power transmission means and the motor are incorporated within the width in the axial direction of the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body. A casing made of
A passage wall formed in an inner surface of the casing and formed in a circumferential direction facing the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body, and a sphere is rotated in the circumferential direction along the passage wall by a feeding claw of the rotating body. An annular passage to be fed,
A detection sensor that is attached to the casing and detects an inflow / outflow state in which a sphere flows ;
A rotational position detection sensor that is disposed inside the rotating body and detects the rotational position of the rotating body by detecting the slit;
With
A ball dispensing device for dispensing a ball supplied from above by rotation of the rotating body downward through an annular passage. Is formed on an inner surface of the casing, a plurality of parallel spheres supply port opening has been sphere is supplied in parallel to the upper side end, between the upper and lower up to the annular passage in parallel with the lower end for spherical waiting Equipped with parallel standby passages for waiting in parallel
In the standby passage that communicates in the vertical direction, when the cross section of the standby passage is changed from a vertically aligned position that is parallel to the front and back to a horizontally aligned position that is parallel to the left and right, only the other passage is aligned side by side with respect to the one passage parallel to the front and rear. The ball payout device according to claim 1, further comprising a direction changing unit that twists 90 degrees in parallel to the position . Downstream of the annular passage, a ball outlet that opens downward along one half circumference of the annular passage and a ball outlet that opens downward along the other half circumference are provided.
The ball dispensing device according to claim 1 or 2 . Downstream of the annular passage, the ball detection position of the passage which is branched and connected from the annular passageway, a portion of two of said detecting sensor parallel to become in correspondence with the both openings of the opening of the annular passage Arranged in steps
The ball dispensing device according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The ball payout according to any one of claims 1 to 4 , wherein the pitch of the feed claws formed in parallel to the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body is shifted by a half pitch in the circumferential direction between one side and the other side in parallel. apparatus. A storage tank in which the ball paying device according to any one of claims 1 to 5 is provided in a vertical shape, and a storage tank is connected to a horizontal shape on the upstream side of the ball paying device to integrally form an inverted L shape. Integrated ball dispenser.

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