JP4954583B2 - Push button structure in gaming machines - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a push button structure in a gaming machine in which a push button is operably disposed on a front panel.

In gaming machines such as pachinko machines and slot machines, various operation switches are arranged on an operation portion of a front door provided on the front surface of a housing. A push button type is frequently used for these various operation switches in consideration of operability. In general, the push button is housed in a cylindrical housing portion so as to be able to move in and out, and an elastic claw piece provided on the outer periphery is engaged with an engagement hole provided in the housing portion so as not to come out of the housing portion. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).
JP 2004-154454 A (FIG. 18)

  In the gaming machine described in Patent Document 1, in order to assemble the push button into the housing portion due to the structure of the push button, the elastic claw piece and the engagement hole are in a state where the entire push button is deeply pushed into the housing portion. The elastic claw pieces must be engaged with the engagement holes by aligning the positions. However, in a state where the push button is pushed deeply into the housing portion, it is not easy to match the positional relationship between the elastic claw piece and the engagement hole, and the assembly work is troublesome.

  In view of the above-described problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a push button structure in a gaming machine that can improve the push button assembly work.

According to the present invention, the above problem is solved as follows.
(1) In a push button structure in a gaming machine in which a push button is housed in a cylindrical housing portion formed on a front board provided on the front surface of the machine body so that the push button can be pushed downward, it is formed on the front board. The accommodating portion is formed in the cylindrical shape having an opening at the top and having a bottom portion, and a first engagement hole extending in a vertical direction extending from a substantially central portion in the vertical direction to the bottom portion on the peripheral wall, and the peripheral wall A second engagement hole extending in the vertical direction extending from the upper end to the bottom, and the push button is made of a synthetic resin and is loosely fitted in the accommodating portion so as to be able to protrude and retract in the vertical direction. A circular operation portion and a lower end of an outer peripheral wall forming a circular outer periphery of the operation portion protrude downward , and the upper peripheral wall is slid vertically in the first engagement hole with the outer peripheral wall inserted into the housing portion. movement possible, and before And an elastic claw piece engageable upwardly against the upper end of the first engagement hole, protrudes from the outer peripheral surface of the outer peripheral wall in the centrifugal direction, the second engagement in a state where the outer peripheral wall is inserted into the receptacle Goana the slidable vertically and have engageable with projections to circle the circumferential direction, when assembling is pushed from above the pushbutton in the housing portion, said outer peripheral wall of the operating unit in shallow pressed in the receptacle, first the protrusion is engaged against the second engagement hole, by further pushing deeply the outer peripheral wall of the operation unit, the projections and the second engagement The elastic claw piece engages with the first engagement hole by sliding downward while engaging with the joint hole.

(2) In the above item (1), the protrusion has a concave portion facing the vertical direction on the outer surface,
The concave portion is connected to a gate portion of a runner that connects a resin molded product of a resin mold when the push button is molded with synthetic resin .

According to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.
According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the push button is assembled, the protrusion is engaged with the second engagement hole only by inserting the push button shallowly into the accommodating portion, and the elastic claw piece is engaged with the first engagement portion. Since it can match | combine with the position engaged with a joint hole, the assembly | attachment work of a push button can be aimed at.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the trace of the gate portion after the runner is cut does not protrude from the protrusion, post-processing of the gate portion can be simplified.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a gaming machine (slot machine) to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied, FIG. 2 is a plan view of the main part, FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the main part, and FIG. 5-7 is a longitudinal sectional view of each assembled state along line II-II in FIG. 2, FIG. 8 is a transverse sectional view along line VIII-VIII in FIG. 7, and FIG. It is a top view of the molding state of a push button. In the following description, the lower left diagonal in FIG. 1 is “front”, the upper right upper is “rear”, the upper left upper is “left”, and the lower right “right”.

  The gaming machine (slot machine) (1) uses a disk-shaped medal (including coins) as the game medium, and the medal is supported on the front of the housing (2) so that it can be opened and closed. By inserting the token into the medal insertion section (4), a predetermined game as described later is performed.

  In the present embodiment, the gaming machine (1) is described as a slot machine whose game medium is a medal. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the gaming machine (1) is a pachinko ball. It may be a pachinko machine or a slot machine.

  In the housing (2), left, middle and right three rotating reels (5) with identification information composed of multiple types of symbols and numbers on the outer peripheral surface, a hopper capable of storing and paying out medals Unit (not shown), main control board (not shown) for overall control of the entire game, sub-control board (not shown) for outputting effect control signals based on commands from the main control board, main control board and others A power supply device (not shown) for supplying electric power to the electrical equipment is accommodated.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the operation arrangement part (6) provided on the front surface of the front door (3) has a credit state (a medal given as a prize when the game is won or a medal insertion part (4)). The bet (7) which is operated when investing a maximum of three medals in the game in a state where the medals are electrically stored in a memory provided on the main control board, and each rotary reel (5). Invest the start lever (8) that is operated when rotating the reel, the three stop buttons (9) that are operated when stopping the rotation of each rotary reel (5), and invest one medal in the game one by one A 1-bet button (10) that is sometimes operated, a settlement button (11) that is operated when a medal in a credit state is settled, a lending button (12) that is operated when borrowing a medal with a card, a card Card that is operated when returning A return button (13) is provided.

  The lending button (12) and the card return button (13) forming the push buttons are made of synthetic resin, and a synthetic resin cover plate in the CR operation unit (14) provided on the left side of the operation arrangement unit (6). (15) is arranged so that it can be pushed downward.

  In this embodiment, the push button structure according to the present invention is applied to the lending button (12) and the card return button (13), but the present invention is applied to other push button type operation switches. Is also applicable.

  On the front surface of the front door (3) is an effect information display window (31) through which game information and effect information displayed on the liquid crystal screen of a liquid crystal display unit (not shown) mounted on the back surface of the front door (3) can be seen. ) And an identification information display window (32) through which three pieces of identification information of each rotary reel (5) can be seen through.

  In the game of the gaming machine (1), after the player inserts a medal into the medal insertion part (4), the bet number of medals is set by the MAX bet button (7) or the 1 bet button (10), and then the start lever This is started by operating (8) to rotate all the rotating reels (5).

  After a predetermined time has elapsed after the rotating reel (5) has rotated, the three stop buttons (9) are sequentially operated to stop the rotation of the rotating reels (5), and the rotating reels ( The combination of identification information in 5) determines the number of medals to be paid according to the presence or absence of a prize and the size of the prize. When winning a prize, it is added to the credit number at that time by a predetermined number of winning prizes. When the number of credits exceeds the limit number (for example, 50), the number of medals corresponding to the excess amount is paid out from the hopper unit to the tray (33) provided at the lower part of the front door (3).

  Next, the lending button (12) and the part where it is assembled will be described. The card return button (13) and the part to which it is assembled have the same structure as the lending button (12) and the part to which it is assembled, so that the description thereof is omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the front panel 15 of the CR operation unit 14 on which the lending button 12 and the card return button 13 are arranged has storage units 151 and 151 arranged side by side. It is installed. In each accommodating part (151) (151), the lending button (12) and the card return button (13) are respectively arranged so as to be able to appear and disappear.

  As shown mainly in FIG. 3, the accommodating portion (151) has a bottomed cylindrical shape that opens upward, and the peripheral wall includes two pieces extending from the substantially central portion in the vertical direction to the bottom portion (152). The first engagement hole (153) and two second engagement holes (154) extending from the upper end to the bottom are provided. A cylindrical portion (155) in the vertical direction is provided at the center of the bottom portion (152) of the housing portion (151).

  The lending button (12) is formed of a synthetic resin as a whole, and has a circular operation part (121) in a plan view that is loosely fitted in the housing part (151) of the front panel (15) and is operated Crossing that protrudes downward (push direction) from the center of the back surface of the part (121) and is slidably inserted in the axial direction (vertical direction) into the insertion hole (155a) of the cylindrical part (155) in the accommodating part (151) A push rod (122) having a cross-shaped surface, two elastic claw pieces (123) projecting downward from the peripheral wall (121a) of the operating portion (121) and elastically deforming inward and outward, and the peripheral wall (121a) A protrusion (124) that slightly protrudes outward from the vicinity of each elastic claw piece (123) is formed.

  Each elastic claw piece (123) is provided at a portion corresponding to each first engagement hole (153) of the accommodating portion (151), and at the lower end thereof, the elastic claw piece (123) is located above and below the first engagement hole (153). A claw portion (123a) that is slidable in the direction and that can be engaged in the removal direction is provided at the upper end of the first engagement hole (153). Note that the lower surface of the claw portion (123a) has a tapered lower surface so that the claw portion (123a) can be easily entered into the housing portion (151) when the claw portion (123a) is pushed into the housing portion (151). Is preferred.

Each protrusion (124) is provided at a portion corresponding to each second engagement hole (154) of the accommodating portion (151) and , as clearly shown in FIGS. A recess (124a) that is recessed is formed so that it is slidable in the vertical direction with respect to each second engagement hole (154) of the accommodating portion (151) (see FIG. 7) and is prevented from rotating in the circumferential direction. Engage to obtain (see FIG. 8). The position of each protrusion (124) is such that when the lending button (12) is assembled into the housing part (151), the operation part (121) of the lending button (12) is inserted shallowly into the housing part (151). At this point, the protrusion (124) is set so as to be able to engage with the second engagement hole (154). As a result, when the lending button (12) is assembled into the accommodating portion (151), before the claw portion (123a) of the elastic claw piece (123) is engaged with the first engagement hole (153), the protrusion ( 124) engages with the second engagement hole (154), and the alignment between the elastic claw piece (123) and the first engagement hole (153) can be easily performed. Note that the lower surface of the protrusion (124) has a tapered lower surface for facilitating entry into the storage portion (151) when each protrusion (124) is pushed into the storage portion (151). Is preferred.

  A spring (16) for biasing the lending button (12) upward is interposed between the back surface of the operation part (121) and the bottom part (152) of the accommodating part (151).

  When the lending button (12) is pushed in, the lower end of the push rod (122) comes into contact with the sensor mounted on the electrical board (not shown) attached to the back side of the front panel (15), and the lending signal is Send to the main control board. The main control board transmits a medal payout signal to the hopper unit based on the lending signal.

  The lending button (12) is injection-molded as a multi-piece resin molded product by a resin mold having a plurality of mold cavities and a plurality of gates. The gate for filling the mold cavity with the molten synthetic resin injected from the injection device is set to a position corresponding to the recess (124a) of the protrusion (124) in the lending button (12). In the present invention, the resin molding of the lending button (12) is not limited to the multi-cavity and may be a single.

  As a result, as shown in FIG. 9, the gate portion (17a) of the runner (17) connecting the resin molded products formed in the multi-mold resin molding is connected to the concave portion (124a) of the protrusion (124). It will be molded in the finished state. As a result, when the runner (17) is separated from the resin molded product, the trace of the gate portion (17a) remaining in the resin molded product remains in the recess (124a), so the trace of the gate portion (17a) is a protrusion ( 124) It will not protrude outward. Therefore, the movement of the lending button (12) is not hindered by the trace of the gate portion (17a) being caught in the accommodating portion (151).

Next, the procedure for assembling the lending button (12) to the housing part (151) of the front panel (15) will be described.
First, as shown in FIG. 5, in the state where the spring (16) is wound around the cylindrical portion (155) in the accommodating portion (151), as shown in FIG. 122) is inserted into the insertion hole (155a) of the cylindrical portion (155), and the protrusion (124) is engaged with the second engagement hole (154) in the accommodating portion (151). In this case, the protrusion (124) can be engaged with the second engagement hole (154) simply by pushing the lending button (12) shallowly into the housing part (151). The portion (124) can be easily engaged with the second engagement hole (154).

  In a state where the protrusion (124) is engaged with the second engagement hole (154), the protrusion (124) is prevented from rotating in the circumferential direction, and the claw portion (123a) of the elastic claw piece (123) is moved to the first engagement hole (153). ), The lending button (12) is held at a position where it can be engaged, so that by pushing the lending button (12) deeply into the accommodating portion (151) as shown in FIG. The claw portion (123a) of the elastic claw piece (123) can be engaged with the first engagement hole (153). Thereby, the assembly of the lending button (12) is completed.

1 is a perspective view of a gaming machine to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied. It is a top view of the principal part. It is a disassembled perspective view of the principal part. It is an expansion perspective view of the principal part. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view equivalent to the II-II line in FIG. 2 which shows an assembly | attachment state. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view equivalent to the II-II line | wire in FIG. 2 which shows an assembly | attachment process. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view equivalent to the II-II line | wire in FIG. 2 which shows completion | finish of assembly | attachment. It is a cross-sectional view which follows the VIII-VIII line in FIG. It is a top view of the molding state of a push button.

Explanation of symbols

(1) Game machine (slot machine)
(2) Housing
(3) Front door
(4) Medal insertion part
(5) Rotating reel
(6) Operation placement section
(7) MAX bet button
(8) Start lever
(9) Stop button
(10) 1 bet button
(11) Checkout button
(12) Lending button (push button)
(13) Card return button (push button)
(14) CR operation section
(15) Front panel
(16) Spring
(17) Runner
(17a) Gate part
(31) Production information display window
(32) Identification information display window
(33) saucer
(121) Operation unit
(121a) Perimeter wall
(122) Push rod
(123) Elastic nail
(123a) Nail
(124) Protrusion
(124a) Recess
(151) Housing part
(152) Bottom
(153) 1st engagement hole
(154) Second engagement hole
(155) Cylindrical part
(155a) Insertion hole

Claims (2)

In a push button structure in a gaming machine in which a push button is housed in a cylindrical housing portion formed on a front plate provided on the front surface of the machine body so that the push button can be pushed downward.
The accommodating portion formed on the front plate is formed in the cylindrical shape having an opening at the top and having a bottom portion, and a first engagement facing a vertical direction extending from a substantially central portion in the vertical direction to the bottom portion on a peripheral wall thereof. And a second engagement hole facing the vertical direction extending from the upper end of the peripheral wall to the bottom,
The push button is made of a synthetic resin, and has a circular operation part in a plan view that is loosely fitted in the housing part so as to be able to protrude and retract in a vertical direction, and a lower end of an outer peripheral wall forming a circular outer periphery of the operation part . projecting downward from the outer peripheral wall slidable to the vertical direction in the first engagement hole in a state of being inserted into the receptacle, and engaging upwardly against the upper end of the first engagement hole and an elastic claw piece possible, the projects from the outer peripheral surface of the outer peripheral wall in the centrifugal direction, wherein the outer peripheral wall is slidable vertically in the second engagement hole in a state of being inserted into the receptacle, and a circular circumferential A protrusion that can be engaged in a direction,
When assembling is pushed from above the push button to the receptacle, in shallow pressed in the outer peripheral wall in the housing portion of the operating portion, firstly the projection is engaged against the second engagement hole Further, by deeply pushing the outer peripheral wall of the operation portion, the protrusion slides downward while engaging with the second engagement hole, and the elastic claw piece engages with the first engagement hole . A push button structure in a gaming machine characterized by: The protrusion has a concave portion facing the vertical direction on the outer surface,
The push button structure in a gaming machine according to claim 1 , wherein the recess is connected to a gate portion of a runner that connects a resin molded product of a resin mold when the push button is molded with synthetic resin .

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