JP5119600B2 - Game machine - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a gaming machine.

  As this type of gaming machine, there is known a ball-use spinning machine (so-called parrot) capable of playing a game similar to a so-called slot machine using a gaming ball as a gaming medium (see, for example, Patent Document 1). ). This gaming machine includes a ball tray that stores game balls and a take-in device that takes in the stored game balls. Then, after a predetermined number of game balls are taken in by the take-in device, the game is started by operating the start lever. At this time, the rotation of the reel in the reel device is started with the start of the game. Thereafter, the rotation of the reel is stopped in accordance with the pressing operation of the stop button by the player, and the game ball is paid out according to the display pattern at the time of the reel stop.

  Here, in a ball-use spinning machine or slot machine, it is necessary to set a bet for each game. In a slot machine, one medal is set as one bet. Since a plurality of game balls are set as one bet, the number of game media increases in the case of taking the same valuable value in the game in the ball-use spinning machine. In this case, if the storage capacity of the ball tray is small, it is necessary to frequently replenish the ball tray with the game ball when continuously playing games. Therefore, in the ball-use spinning machine, the ball tray is provided so as to protrude forward of the gaming machine, and a large storage capacity of the ball tray is ensured.

  In the above configuration, by installing an operation device operated by the player and a display device for displaying information about the game in the near side region of the ball tray, the operability of the operation device can be improved, and the display The visibility of the device can be improved. However, it is not preferable to extremely reduce the storage capacity of the ball tray as the operating device or the display device is installed.

Note that a so-called pachinko gaming machine is also provided with a ball tray, and a large storage capacity of the ball tray can be secured by projecting the ball tray forward of the gaming machine. In this case, in order to improve operability and visibility as described above, a configuration in which an operating device or a display device is installed in the near side region of the ball tray is conceivable. In such a configuration, it is not preferable to extremely reduce the storage capacity of the ball tray with the installation of the operating device and the display device.
JP-A-2005-245477

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances and the like, and in the configuration in which the installation area in which the operation device or the display device is installed is provided in the front area of the ball tray, a large storage capacity of the ball tray is secured It is an object of the present invention to provide a gaming machine that can be used.

The invention described in claim 1 comprises a gaming machine front body that constitutes a gaming machine front face portion and is provided rotatably in front of the gaming machine.
A locking device for locking the gaming machine front body in a closed position;
A pattern display device for variably displaying the pattern;
A window portion provided on the front portion of the gaming machine and enabling visual recognition of the variation display of the pattern in the pattern display device;
Starting operation means operated to start the display of the variation of the pattern;
A stop operation means operated to stop the display of variation of the pattern;
A ball tray that is formed to project forward in the lower part of the window part in the front part of the gaming machine and stores game balls,
A take-in device for taking in game balls stored in a ball tray,
When a predetermined number of game balls are taken in by the take-in device and the start operation means is operated, the display of the variation of the picture is started, and according to the stop picture after the operation of the stop operation means In a gaming machine that pays out a predetermined number of game balls to a ball tray,
An operation device different from the start operation means and the stop operation means having an operation portion that is formed in a front side region of the ball tray so as to be higher than a ball storage portion of the ball tray and that is operated during a game. Alternatively, an installation area is provided in which at least one of display devices having a display unit on which information related to games is displayed,
The installation area is provided with protection means for protecting the device installed there from above, and not protecting the start operation means and the stop operation means from above ,
Protective measures are
A front side protection unit that configures a front side region of the protection means, protects the operation device while allowing the operation unit to be operated, or protects the display device while allowing the display unit to be visually recognized;
The rear side protection part is formed so as to be lower than the upper side edge part of the front side protection part and the upper edge of the peripheral wall part of the ball tray, which constitutes the back side region from the front side protection part,
In the back side region of the ball tray, on one end side in the left-right direction, an exit passage is provided that extends in the left-right direction and guides the game balls aligned toward the take-in device,
The ball tray is arranged so that the exit passage is on the back side of the window part, the take-in device is arranged on the back side of the window part,
Covering the upper surface opening side of the outlet passage to prevent the game balls from being stacked in the outlet passage, and opening the front side of the gaming machine to the rear side between the back end of the ball tray and the window portion A regulating body that shields between the two so that a space is not formed,
A support means provided on the ball tray, having at least an opening exposing the outlet passage, and supporting the regulating body from below;
It is provided on the back side of the gaming machine front body, and is movable between a closed position and an open position that are closed with respect to the gaming machine front body, and closes the opening with respect to the support means in the closed position. A clamping body that holds the regulation body together with support means above the regulation body placed from above, and releases the clamping in the open position,
Forming the installation area in front of the outlet passage;
A back end portion of the back side protection portion is brought into contact with a side wall of the restricting body extending in a vertical direction;
Separating one or more game balls between the outlet passage and the side wall portion of the ball tray on the side where the outlet passage is provided;
The spaced region is partitioned by a side wall extending in the vertical direction of the regulating body and a peripheral wall portion of the ball tray, and is lower than an upper edge of the peripheral wall portion of the ball tray and communicates with the back side protection portion. The auxiliary storage part is provided.

According to the present invention, it is possible to ensure a large storage capacity of the ball tray in the configuration in which the installation area in which the operation device or the display device is installed is provided in the front area of the ball tray.

First, invention groups that can be extracted from the present embodiment are shown as means n (n = 1, 2, 3,...), And will be described while showing effects and the like as necessary. In the following, for easy understanding, the corresponding configuration in the embodiment of the invention is appropriately shown in parentheses, but is not limited to the specific configuration shown in parentheses.

Means 1. In a gaming machine in which a ball tray (upper plate 151) for storing gaming balls is provided so as to protrude forward from the front of the gaming machine,
An operation portion (push button member 186, 186) that is formed in the front region of the ball tray so as to be higher than the ball storage portion (front region A1, back region A2) of the ball tray and is operated during the game. 187), an installation area (at least one of a display device (ball rental operation device 153) having a display unit (frequency display unit 185) on which information related to a game is displayed (a ball rental operation device 153). In the upper plate 151, an area in which the ball lending operation device installation unit 175 is formed)
The installation area is provided with protection means (third cover member 159, ball rental operation device installation unit 175) for protecting the device installed there from above,
Protective measures are
A front side protection portion (front side inclined region) that forms a front side region of the protection means and protects the operation device while enabling the operation unit to be operated, or protects the display device while allowing the display unit to be visually recognized. 271a, front side installation portion 175a),
The back side protection part which is formed so as to constitute a back side region from the front side protection part and lower than the back side end part of the front side protection part and the upper edge of the peripheral wall part (peripheral wall part 162) of the ball tray (The back side inclined region 271b, the back side installation part 175b) and
A gaming machine characterized by comprising:

According to the means 1, at least one of the operation device or the display device is installed in the near side region of the ball tray provided so as to protrude forward of the gaming machine. Moreover, the apparatus installed there is higher than the ball storage part of the ball tray. Thereby, the operability of the operation unit is improved with respect to the operation device, and the visibility of the display unit is improved with respect to the display device. Further, by providing the protection means, it is possible to prevent the operation device and the display device from being damaged even if the game ball stored in the ball tray jumps toward the installation area.

In such a configuration, the protection means includes a front side protection unit and a back side protection unit, and the front side protection unit protects the operation device while allowing the operation unit to be operated, or makes the display unit visible. However, the display device is protected. Moreover, the back side protection part is formed so as to be lower than the upper edge of the peripheral wall part of the ball tray. As a result, even if the number of game balls exceeding the capacity of the ball storage unit is stored in the ball tray, the excess game balls are retreated to the back side protection unit, and the game balls overflow from the ball tray. Can be suppressed. That is, the back side protection part functions as an auxiliary storage part, and the storage capacity of the ball tray can be secured as much as possible.

Further, the back side protection part is formed to be lower than the back side end part of the near side protection part. Thereby, it is suppressed that the game ball evacuated to the back side protection part is mounted on the near side protection part. If a game ball is placed on the front-side protection unit, the game ball may cause inconveniences such as a decrease in the operability of the operation unit and a decrease in the visibility of the display unit. Occurrence can be suppressed.

In addition, the structure provided integrally with the ball tray may be sufficient as a "protection means", and the structure provided separately with respect to the ball tray may be sufficient. Moreover, the structure by which one part was integrally provided with respect to the ball | bowl tray, and the other was provided with respect to the ball | bowl tray separately may be sufficient.

Mean 2. In means 1, a pattern display device (reel device 503) for variably displaying a pattern;
A window portion (transparent panel 13) provided above the ball tray in the front portion of the gaming machine and enabling visual recognition of the variable display of the pattern in the pattern display device;
In the installation area, the device is installed such that the operation unit or display unit of the device installed therein is inclined downward toward the near side,
A gaming machine, wherein the front side protection portion is formed so that the upper surface thereof is inclined downward toward the front side.

It is common for a player who plays a game with this gaming machine to visually recognize the variable display of the picture through the window at a position in front of the gaming machine, and at least the player's line of sight is above the ball tray. Furthermore, the height of the player's shoulder is also higher than the ball tray. In this case, according to the means 2, the device is installed so that the operation unit or display unit of the device installed in the installation area is inclined downward toward the front side, and the front side protection unit further The upper surface is formed to be inclined downward toward the front side. Thereby, with respect to the operation device, the player can operate the operation unit without difficulty by moving his arm diagonally downward toward the operation unit, and with respect to the display device, the player simply turns diagonally downward to display the display unit. Can be easily recognized. Therefore, the operability of the operation unit is further improved with respect to the operation device, and the visibility of the display unit is further improved with respect to the display device.

Further, in the above configuration, when a game ball is placed on the near side protection portion, there is a risk that the game ball may jump out of the ball tray due to its inclination. Since the game ball is suppressed from being placed on the front-side protection part because it is lower than the back-side end part of the side protection part, the occurrence of the inconvenience as described above is suppressed.

Means 3. In means 1 or means 2, the back side protection part is inclined downward toward the ball storage part so that a game ball placed on the back side protection part flows down toward the ball storage part by its own weight. A gaming machine characterized by that.

According to the means 3, even if the number of game balls exceeding the capacity of the ball storage unit are stored in the ball tray and the game balls are retracted to the back side protection unit, the number of game balls stored in the ball storage unit is The game balls evacuated due to the decrease flow down to the ball storage section by their own weight. Therefore, in the structure which provided the back side protection part which has a function as an auxiliary | assistant storage part, the flow of the game ball in a ball tray can be made smooth.

Means 4. A gaming machine according to any one of means 1 to 3, wherein the back side protection portion is formed to be inclined downward toward the back side.

According to the means 4, since the back side protection part is inclined downward toward the back side, the game ball placed on the back side protection part is located near the back side end part of the protection means by its own weight. Therefore, it becomes difficult for the game ball retreated to the back side protection unit to be placed on the front side protection unit.

Means 5. In any one of the means 1 to means 4, it is a configuration comprising a take-in device (take-in devices 301 to 303) for taking in the game balls stored in the ball tray,
Outlet passages (guide passages 171 to 173) that extend in the left-right direction and guide the game balls to the take-in device are aligned on one end side in the left-right direction in the back-side region (back-side region A2) of the ball tray. And providing
In order to prevent the game balls from being stacked in the exit passage, a restricting body (second cover member 158) that covers the upper surface open side of the exit passage is provided,
Furthermore, while forming the installation area in front of the outlet passage,
A gaming machine, characterized in that a rear side end portion of the back side protection portion is brought into contact with a side wall (front side end surface 251) of a restricting body extending in a vertical direction.

According to the means 5, the ball receiving tray is provided with the exit passage, and further, the regulating body for preventing the game balls from being stacked in the exit passage is provided. Thereby, the flow of the game ball toward the capture device becomes smooth. In the take-in device, a predetermined number of game balls are taken in. In this case, as described above, the flow of the game balls toward the take-in device is made smooth so that a predetermined number of game balls can be taken in accurately.

In this case, the back side end of the back side protection part is in contact with the side wall of the regulating body. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the game balls placed on the back side protection portion from being directly guided to the exit passage and hindering the flow of the game balls aligned in the exit passage. In particular, in a configuration in which the above-described means 4 is provided and the back side protection part is inclined downward toward the back side end part, the game ball placed on the back side protection part is positioned near the back side end part by its own weight. However, it is possible to prevent such a game ball from being guided directly to the exit passage.

Means 6. In the means 5, support means (the flange portion 241 of the first cover member 157 and the second cover member 158) is provided so that the restricting body is suspended and supported via the upper edge of the peripheral wall portion of the ball tray. A gaming machine characterized by

According to the means 6, since the regulating body is a separate body from the ball tray and other components of the gaming machine, the regulating body can be removed during maintenance of the ball tray or when the regulating body is damaged. Further, since the support means is provided, the restricting body is suspended and supported via the upper edge of the peripheral wall portion of the ball tray. That is, the ball storage part of the ball tray is not used for supporting the regulating body. Therefore, in the configuration in which the means for regulating the height direction of the outlet passage is provided as a separate body, the regulating body can be supported without reducing the storage capacity of the ball tray.

Mean 7 In means 6, a space between the outlet passage and a side wall portion (side wall portion 201) of the ball tray on the side where the outlet passage is provided is separated by one or more game balls,
Forming the support means so that the regulating body is suspended and supported through the back wall portion of the ball tray in the separated region;
Further, the spaced region is defined by a side wall extending in the vertical direction of the restricting body and a peripheral wall portion of the ball tray, and is lower than an upper edge of the peripheral wall portion of the ball tray and is located on the back side protection portion. A gaming machine characterized in that an auxiliary storage part (extension wall part 202) to be communicated is provided.

According to the means 7, the outlet passage and the side wall portion of the ball tray are separated from each other, and the regulating body is suspended and supported through the back wall portion of the ball tray at the separated position. Thereby, in the configuration in which the exit passage is provided on one end side in the left-right direction of the ball tray, the support strength of the regulating body on the side on which the exit passage is provided is increased, and the regulation body can be supported in a stable state. it can.

Moreover, in order to raise the support strength of a control body, the auxiliary | assistant storage part is provided using the area | region spaced apart. And this auxiliary storage part is connected to the back side protection part. As a result, even if the number of game balls exceeding the capacity of the ball storage unit and the back side protection unit are stored in the ball tray, the excess game balls are retreated to the auxiliary storage unit, and the game balls overflow from the ball tray. It can be suppressed from coming out.

Means 8. The gaming machine according to claim 7, wherein the auxiliary storage portion is formed to be inclined downward toward the back side protection portion.

According to the means 8, even if the number of game balls exceeding the capacity of the ball storage unit and the back side protection unit are stored in the ball tray and the game ball is retreated to the auxiliary storage unit, the game ball is stored in the back side protection unit. As the number of game balls decreases, the retreated game balls flow down to the back side protection unit due to their own weight. Therefore, in the structure which provided the auxiliary storage part, the flow of the game ball in a ball tray can be made smooth. In particular, in the configuration provided with the means 3, the back side protection portion is formed so as to be inclined downward toward the ball storage portion, so that the game ball retreated to the auxiliary storage portion is stored in the ball storage portion. As the number of game balls decreases, it flows down to the ball reservoir due to its own weight.

Means 9. In the means 8, the gaming machine is characterized in that both are located at the same height at the communication part between the back side protection part and the auxiliary storage part.

According to the means 9, when the number of game balls exceeding the capacity | capacitance of a ball | bowl storage part and a back side protection part are stored in a ball | bowl tray, the surplus game ball is evacuated to an auxiliary | assistant storage part naturally. Further, as the number of game balls stored in the back side protection unit decreases, the game balls retreated to the auxiliary storage unit naturally flow down to the back side protection unit. Therefore, the movement of the game ball between the back side protection unit and the auxiliary storage unit can be made smooth.

Means 10. In any one of the means 1 to 9, a picture display device (reel device 503) for variably displaying a picture, a start operation means (start lever 33) operated to start variable display of the picture in the picture display device, Stop operation means (stop switches 35 to 37) operated to stop the variable display of the picture, a take-in device (take-in devices 301 to 303) for taking in game balls stored in the ball tray, and the ball A ball discharging means (dispensing device 618) for discharging the game ball to the tray;
When a predetermined number of game balls are taken in by the take-in device and the start operation means is operated, variable display of the picture is started, and according to the stop picture after the stop operation means is operated A gaming machine configured to discharge a predetermined number of game balls to the ball tray through the ball discharge means.

The present invention is preferably applied to a gaming machine including a start operation means and a stop operation means that are actively operated by a player.

Means 11. Means 10 includes a storage base (operation unit 30) that protrudes forward from the front portion of the gaming machine and stores the ball tray.
The start operation means and the stop operation means are arranged on the front end surface (front plate portion 31) of the storage base,
A gaming machine characterized in that a ball rental operating device (ball rental operating device 153) operated to discharge a ball rental to the ball tray via the ball discharging means is installed in the installation area.

According to the means 11, since the start operation means and the stop operation means are arranged on the front side end surface of the storage base protruding forward from the front surface portion of the gaming machine, the operability of the start operation means and the stop operation means can be improved. ing. In this case, a ball rental operating device is installed in the installation area. As a result, the operability of the ball rental operation unit provided in the ball rental operation device can be improved, and in the configuration in which the ball rental display unit is provided in the ball rental operation device, the visibility can be improved. .

Further, while the start operation means and the stop operation means are arranged on the front side end surface of the storage base, the ball rental operation device is arranged in the installation area of the ball tray. As a result, it is possible to prevent the ball lending operation unit from being erroneously operated during the operation of the start operation means and the stop operation means, and the lending of the lending is executed against the player's intention. Can be suppressed.

Means 12. In any one of means 1 to 9, a game board in which a game area in which game balls flow down is formed,
Firing operation means operated to fire a game ball;
A game ball launcher that launches game balls stored in the ball tray to the game area based on the operation of the launch operation means;
A gaming machine characterized by comprising:

The present invention is preferably applied to so-called pachinko gaming machines.

In addition, it is good also as a structure which installs a ball rental operating device in an installation area | region in this game machine. As a result, the operability of the ball rental operation unit provided in the ball rental operation device can be improved, and in the configuration in which the ball rental display unit is provided in the ball rental operation device, the visibility can be improved. .

  Hereinafter, an embodiment relating to a revolving gaming machine using a gaming ball in which a game is played using a gaming ball as a gaming medium will be described with reference to the drawings.

  The gaming machine in the present embodiment requires taking in a game ball (for example, a game ball similar to a pachinko machine: a pachinko ball) as a predetermined number of game media (game value) in the game, and a predetermined condition is satisfied A plurality of game balls, and in some cases, a large number of game balls are paid out. This game machine is supplied with game balls from the same game ball supply system as the pachinko machine in the game hall, etc., and this game is installed in the existing island facility (pachinko island) where the pachinko machine is installed. It is possible to install a machine.

  First, the outline of the external configuration and internal structure of the gaming machine 1 will be described. Here, FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the entire gaming machine 1, FIG. 2 is a front view of the gaming machine 1, FIGS. 3 and 4 are perspective views showing an internal open state of the gaming machine 1, and FIG. FIG. In the following description, unless otherwise noted, directions such as left, right, up and down are described with reference to the state viewed from the front of the gaming machine 1.

  The gaming machine 1 has an outer frame 2 as a main body frame, and a gaming machine main part 3 attached to the outer frame 2 so as to be rotatable forward. The outer frame 2 is configured by connecting wooden plate members to four sides, and has a rectangular shape as a whole. When the gaming machine 1 is installed in the game hall, the outer frame 2 is attached and fixed to the island facility. The outer frame 2 can be made of a metal such as synthetic resin or aluminum. Although not shown in FIG. 3 or the like, the right side plate material among the four side plate materials constituting the outer frame 2 is provided with locking members (described in detail in FIGS. A hook receiving metal for locking the metal fittings 125, 126) is provided.

  The gaming machine main part 3 includes a door block 4 that is a door body unit, a face changing block 5 that is a picture display unit, and a payout block 6 that is a payout unit for game balls. The door block 4 is provided with hinge metal fittings 8 at two upper and lower positions. The door metal block 4 (the main part 3 of the gaming machine) is externally connected by the hinge metal fitting 8 and the two upper and lower metal fittings 9 on the outer frame 2 side. The frame 2 is supported so as to be rotatable. In this case, the rotation axis is provided on the left side when the gaming machine 1 is viewed from the front, and the gaming machine main part 3 is opened with the right side as the rotation tip when viewed from the front. In a state where the gaming machine main part 3 is closed with respect to the outer frame 2, the rear surface of the outer peripheral edge of the door block 4 comes into contact with the front surface of the outer frame 2.

  The surface changing block 5 is attached to the back side of the door block 4, and the payout block 6 is attached so as to cover the surface changing block 5 from the back side. The surface changing block 5 and the payout block 6 are rotatably supported by a part of the door block 4, and can be rotated integrally with the door block 4 with respect to the outer frame 2. In contrast, each has a structure that can be individually rotated.

  Here, the relative positional relationship and the operation state of each of the members constituting the gaming machine main part 3 will be briefly described. FIG. 6 is a drawing schematically showing the gaming machine main part 3, (a) is a view of the gaming machine main part 3 as seen from the back side, and (b) and (c) are the surface changing blocks 5 for the door block 4. It is a figure which shows the open | release operation | movement condition of the payout block 6.

  As shown in (a), an axis AX1 for opening the surface changing block 5 and the payout block 6 with respect to the door block 4 is set on the right side (left side when viewed from the front). The axis AX1 serves as both an axis for supporting the surface changing block 5 and an axis for supporting the payout block 6. In this case, M11 and M12 shown in the figure are support means for supporting the surface changing block 5, and M21, M22 and M23 are support means for supporting the payout block 6. That is, the support means M11 and M12 for the surface changing block 5 are provided at the upper and lower positions so as to be coaxial, and the support means M21 to M23 for the payout block 6 are similarly provided at the upper and lower positions so as to be coaxial. The support means M11 and M12 are arranged so as to be sandwiched between the support means M21 and M22 for the payout block 6. In particular, the support means of the blocks 5 and 6 are all provided coaxially.

  With the above configuration, the operations (b) and (c) can be performed. In (b), the surface changing block 5 and the dispensing block 6 are integrally opened with respect to the door block 4. In (c), the surface changing block 5 and the payout block 6 are separated from the state of (b), and the surface changing block 5 is rotated forward. Further, as described above, both the surface changing block 5 and the payout block 6 are provided with a rotation axis on the left side when the gaming machine 1 is viewed from the front, and are opened with the right side as the rotation tip. The direction in which the pivot axis and the pivot tip are set is the same as that set in the door block 4.

(Description of door block 4)
Next, the door block 4 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. Here, FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the door block 4 as viewed from the rear, and FIGS. 8 and 9 are exploded perspective views of the main structure of the door block 4 from the front and rear. In the following description of the door block 4, the above-described FIG. 1 and FIG.

  In the door block 4, the front door body 11 has substantially the same size (vertical dimension and horizontal dimension) as the outer frame 2, and an inner frame 12 is attached so as to overlap the back side. Both the front door body 11 and the inner frame 12 are formed of a synthetic resin material, and are joined by screwing at a plurality of locations from the back. However, in order to increase the rigidity of the door block 4, the inner frame 12 can be formed of a metal material (for example, formed by aluminum die casting).

  And the transparent panel 13 and the panel support member 14 are assembled | attached from the back side of the front door body 11 and the inner frame 12. As shown in FIG. Further, the upper plate unit 15 and the take-in unit 16 are fixed to the back side of the front door body 11 and the inner frame 12 by using fixing tools such as screws and screws.

(Description of the front door 11)
The front door 11 stores a symbol visual recognition unit that enables visual recognition of a reel symbol, a liquid crystal symbol, and the like, which will be described later, an operation unit that is manually operated by a player when playing a game, and a game ball that is redundant in the upper plate part. A lower plate part is provided. Hereinafter, a detailed configuration of the front door body 11 will be described with reference to enlarged perspective views (FIG. 10 and FIG. 11) showing the front door body 11 and the inner frame 12.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 10 and the like, a visual recognition window 21 having a substantially trapezoidal shape as a symbol visual recognition portion is formed in the upper half portion of the front door body 11. A transparent panel 13 (see FIG. 8) made of a flat transparent plate and having substantially the same shape as that of the viewing window 21 is fitted into the viewing window 21, and the inside of the viewing window 21 is formed through the transparent panel 13. Is visible. The viewing window 21 is provided in a substantially upper half region of the front surface portion of the front door body 11, and according to the viewing window 21 configured to be relatively large, an image using a large liquid crystal display device is displayed. In addition to being able to give a great impact to the player by the display effect, the visibility of the symbol of the reel device as the main display device of the gaming machine 1 is good.

  Here, the transparent panel 13 is attached to the front door body 11 from the back side and is fixed by the panel support member 14. Specifically, the panel support member 14 is configured as a frame having openings having the same shape as the viewing window 21 and the transparent panel 13, and fixed support portions having screw holes and the like in the respective left and right and upper and lower frame portions. 14a is formed. In such a case, with the inner frame 12 assembled to the front door body 11, the transparent panel 13 and the panel support member 14 are mounted from the back side, and screw fixing or the like is performed at the fixed support portion 14a. The member 14 is fixed. Thereby, the peripheral part surrounding the visual recognition window 21 of the front door body 11 and the panel support member 14 sandwich the peripheral portion of the transparent panel 13, and the mounting of the transparent panel 13 to the front door body 11 is completed.

  On the front side of the front door 11, an enclosure 23 is provided on the left and right side portions and the upper portion of the viewing window 21, and the enclosure portion 23 has a central lamp portion 24 and a pair of left and right side lamp portions 25. And a speaker unit 26 is provided at the upper right corner and the upper left corner of the front door body 11. During the game, the lamp units 24 and 25 and the speaker unit 26 perform a lamp effect, a sound effect, and the like according to the game situation each time. In other words, the player is notified of the formation of the winning combination by appropriately changing the light emission color and light emission pattern by the lamp units 24 and 25 or by appropriately changing the sound pattern by the speaker unit 26. Further, it is possible to perform error notification or the like using the lamp units 24 and 25 and the speaker unit 26.

  Incidentally, the viewing window 21 is provided in a range excluding the surrounding portion 23 (left and right side lamp portions 25) with respect to the left and right width of the front door body 11, and thus the viewing window 21 is wide on the left and right. ing. In addition, the visual recognition window 21 is wider than the lateral width of a reel device or a liquid crystal device described later.

  Below the viewing window 21 is provided an operation unit 30 provided with various operation members operated by the player. The operation unit 30 has a front plate portion 31 which is horizontally long and slightly arcuate as a whole. The front plate portion 31 is provided with a start lever 33 and a stop switch 35 including a triple button. , 36, 37 are provided. In addition, at the upper end portion of the front plate portion 31, the bed switch mounting plate portion protrudes rearward from the front plate portion 31 at a position toward the left side (generally between the start lever 33 and the left stop switch 35). 32 is formed, and a button-like bed switch 38 is attached to the attachment plate portion 32.

  The bet switch 38 allows the player to set a bet (the number of bets), and a predetermined number of game balls stored in the upper plate 151 are taken in by the pushing operation. In the present embodiment, a so-called MAX bet switch is provided as the bet switch 38, and game balls equivalent to 3 bets (for 15 balls) are taken in by an effective one-time pressing operation. The bet switch 38 constitutes an input command means for instructing input of a game ball as an investment value. In addition to the bet switch 38 as the MAX bet switch, a configuration in which a 1-bet switch or a 2-bet switch is provided may be used. By the way, the 1-bet switch is a bet switch for taking in a game ball equivalent to 1 bet (for 5 balls) by one push operation, and the 2-bet switch is equivalent to 2 bets by a single push operation (10 This is a bet switch for taking in game balls.

  The start lever 33 is an operation member for starting rotation of each reel (rotating body) of the reel device 503 described later, and start operation means operated to start rotation of each reel, that is, to start variable display of symbols. Constitute.

  The stop switches 35 to 37 are provided so as to correspond to the reels to be stopped (left, middle and right three rows of reels), and are operated to stop each of the rotating reels individually. Configure the means. Each of the stop switches 35 to 37 can be stopped when each reel is rotated at a constant speed, and is pressed in this state. Further, while a stop operation is possible, a lamp (not shown) is turned on to notify that the stop operation is possible, and is turned off when the rotation of each reel is stopped.

  A laterally long opening 41 having substantially the same length as the front plate 31 and opening upward is formed behind the operation unit 30. The opening 41 is an opening region for arranging the upper plate 151 when the upper plate unit 15 is mounted on the front door body 11, and the width dimension in the left-right direction of the opening 41 is the left-right direction of the upper plate 151. The width dimension of the opening 41 is generally shorter than the width dimension of the upper plate 151 in the front-rear direction. Note that the width dimension of the opening 41 in the left-right direction is slightly shorter than the width dimension of the viewing window 21 in the left-right direction.

  A cutout 42 is formed in the lower right portion of the front plate 31 of the operation unit 30 when viewed from the front. The notch 42 is an installation space for installing an operation lever 198 of a discharge operation transmission device 154 to be described later.

  A horizontally long window portion 50 extending in the left-right direction is provided between the viewing window 21 (transparent panel 13) and the operation unit 30. The horizontally long window portion 50 is located on the back side of the viewing window 21 (transparent panel 13), and the width dimension in the left-right direction is larger than the width dimension in the left-right direction of the viewing window 21 and the width dimension in the left-right direction of the opening 41. Is slightly shorter. Two small holes 51 and 52 are provided on the right side of the horizontally long window portion 50. The small holes 51 and 52 are holes for exposing operation switches 518 and 519, which will be described later, so that they can be pushed.

  In the front door body 11, arc-shaped recess portions 61 are provided on the left and right side portions of the horizontally elongated window portion 50 so as to recede to the back side as compared with the surrounding enclosure portion 23. In the portion 61, a locking member for locking and unlocking the gaming machine main portion 3 (door block 4) with respect to the outer frame 2 (specifically, a key cylinder 137 provided on the inner frame 12 described later) is forwardly provided. A key cylinder installation hole 62 for exposure is formed.

  As can be seen in FIG. 1 and the like, the left and right recesses 61 are located immediately above the upper plate 151. Therefore, even if a game ball is lent to the upper plate 151 via a ball rental nozzle (so-called elephant nose) extending from the ball rental unit in the game hall, the interference between the ball rental nozzle and the front door body 11 Can be avoided. Therefore, it is a useful configuration even considering the installation situation in the game hall.

  Further, in the front door body 11, a bulging portion 70 is formed below the operation portion 30 so that the design shape is continuous with the surrounding portion 23 and the concave portion 61, and is surrounded by the bulging portion 70. Thus, the lower tray 71 and the ashtray 72 are formed. A lower dish discharge port 74 and a speaker hole 75 are formed in the back wall portion 73 surrounded by the bulging portion 70. When the game ball is fully stored in the upper plate 151 or its upstream passage and the game ball is paid out from the payout device, or for the game ball stored in the upper plate 151 When the ball removal operation is performed, the game ball is discharged to the lower plate 71 through the lower plate discharge port 74.

  An opening is formed in the bottom of the lower plate 71, and an opening / closing plate 76 is provided in the opening. In addition, a ball punching operation piece 77 for a lower dish is provided at a substantially central portion of the bulging portion 70. The ball removal operation piece 77 is an operation piece for discharging the game balls stored in the lower plate 71 to a ball storage box (a so-called dollar box) placed below the lower plate 71, from the normal position shown in the figure. By operating leftward, the opening / closing plate 76 slides to the open position, and the game balls in the lower plate 71 are discharged. In addition, lower plate lamp portions 78 are provided on the left and right sides of the lower plate 71 in the bulging portion 70.

  As shown in FIG. 11, as a configuration on the back side of the front door body 11, lamp accommodation portions 91 that accommodate the side lamp portions 25 are provided on both the left and right sides of the viewing window 21. The lamp housing portion 91 has a substantially prismatic shape, and when the transparent panel 13 is attached to the front door body 11, the panel support member 14 is mounted along the inner side surface of the lamp housing portion 91. Yes.

  A pair of left and right upper speakers 92 are provided at the upper position on the back side of the front door body 11. The upper speaker 92 is a sound source provided behind the speaker unit 26 provided on the front side of the front door body 11, and the sound of the upper speaker 92 is emitted from the speaker unit 26 to the front of the gaming machine.

  An upper plate accommodating portion 93 for accommodating the upper plate 151 of the upper plate unit 15 is provided below the horizontally long window portion 50 when viewed from the back side of the front door body 11. The upper plate accommodating portion 93 extends in the left-right direction, and is provided so as to communicate with the opening 41 (an opening region on the front surface side of the front door body 11) in front thereof.

(Description of inner frame 12)
As shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, the inner frame 12 has a rectangular shape that is similar to the front door body 11, and has a left frame portion 101, a right frame portion 102, and an upper frame portion 103 having substantially the same narrow width. And a lower frame portion 104 wider than them. A portion surrounded by each of the frame portions 101 to 104 is a central opening portion 105, and the central opening portion 105 is formed on the back side of the inner frame 12 within a range excluding a part of the upper edge portion of the lower frame portion 104. A rib 106 having a constant height is formed so as to surround it. However, the left frame portion 101 is provided with shaft fittings 111 to 113, and the surface changing block 5 and the payout block 6 are supported by the shaft fittings 111 to 113. It is formed relatively thick to increase the rigidity.

  On the front side of the inner frame 12, the upper frame portion 103 has a lamp substrate 107 mounted with lamps serving as a light source of the central lamp portion 24, and an audio lamp relay substrate 108 attached to the rear side thereof. Yes.

  In the left frame portion 101, shaft fittings 111, 112, and 113 are attached to the tip end portion of the rib 106 at three upper and lower portions at predetermined intervals. These shaft fittings 111 to 113 are fitting members for rotatably supporting the surface changing block 5 and the dispensing block 6. The shaft brackets 111 to 113 are all substantially U-shaped. The shaft bracket 111 has upper and lower bearing portions 111a and 111b, and the shaft bracket 112 has upper and lower bearing portions 112a and 112b. The metal fitting 113 is formed with bearing portions 113a and 113b in the vertical direction. A shaft hole is formed in each of the bearing portions 111a, 111b, 112a, 112b, 113a, and 113b of the shaft fittings 111 to 113, and all the shaft holes of the shaft fittings 111 to 113 are arranged on the same axis. It is being fixed to the rib 106 so that.

  In such a case, the lower bearing portion 111b of the shaft bracket 111 and the upper bearing portion 112a of the shaft bracket 112 correspond to a surface changing block support means for supporting the surface changing block 5, and the bearing on the upper side of the shaft bracket 111. The portion 111 a, the lower bearing portion 112 b of the shaft fitting 112, and the lower bearing portion 113 b of the shaft fitting 113 correspond to a dispensing block support means for supporting the dispensing block 6.

  Further, the right frame portion 102 is provided with a locking device 120 for holding the door block 4 and the payout block 6 in a locked state that cannot be opened. FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing a single structure of the locking device 120, and (a) and (b) of FIG. 12 are perspective views seen from two opposite directions.

  In FIG. 12, the locking device 120 includes a long base frame 121 formed by bending a metal plate, and the base frame 121 is fixed to the back side of the right frame portion 102, thereby locking the lock. The device 120 is attached and fixed to the inner frame 12. A first interlocking rod 122 is provided on one side of the base frame 121 (on the outer side of the inner frame 12) so as to overlap, and on the other side (on the inner side of the inner frame 12) Two interlocking rods 123 are also provided so as to overlap. The first interlocking rod 122 is formed with slit portions 122a at two upper and lower portions. By arranging a pin member 121a provided on the base frame 121 in the slit portion 122a, the length of the slit portion 122a is provided. Only the first interlocking rod 122 is movable in the vertical direction. The second interlocking rod 123 is formed with slit portions 123a at three locations in the upper and lower sides (however, only one slit portion 123a is shown because of the angle shown in the figure), and a base frame is formed in the slit portion 123a. By arranging the pin member 121b provided in 121, the second interlocking rod 123 can move in the vertical direction by the length of the slit portion 123a.

  In the base frame 121, a pair of upper and lower hook metal fittings 125 and 126 having a hook shape are provided on the first interlocking rod 122 side. The intermediate portions of the metal fittings 125 and 126 are pivotally supported by the base frame 121, and the tip hook portion moves downward when the first interlocking rod 122 moves upward. Coil springs 127 and 128 having one ends coupled to the base frame 121 are attached to the base end portions (the portions opposite to the front end hook portions) of the metal fittings 125 and 126. At the same time, the base end portions of the metal fittings 125 and 126 are pulled down, and at the same time, the first interlocking rod 122 is pulled down and held in the initial state shown in the drawing.

  The first interlocking rod 122 is provided with an extending plate portion 129 above the lower metal fitting 126. The extension plate portion 129 is provided so as to close the flange recess 126a directly above the flange recess 126a of the flange fitting 126, and in terms of the positional relationship with the flange receiving bracket provided on the outer frame 2. An extending plate portion 129 is provided at a position directly above the flange receiving metal fitting. In this case, when the door block 4 is closed with respect to the outer frame 2, the hook receiving metal fitting on the outer frame 2 side is in the hook recess 126 a of the hook metal fitting 126, and the extension plate portion 129 is outside. The downward movement of the first interlocking rod 122 is inhibited by hitting the rod receiving bracket on the frame 2 side.

  The second interlocking rod 123 is formed with a pair of upper and lower hook metal parts 133 and 134 having a hook shape. In addition, the base frame 121 is formed with a pair of upper and lower protruding protrusions 131 and 132 so as to protrude toward the second interlocking rod 123 and overlap with the metal fittings 133 and 134 of the second interlocking rod 123. . A coil spring 135 is provided between the base frame 121 and the second interlocking rod 123 so that the second interlocking rod 123 is pulled upward by the biasing force of the coil spring 135 and is held in the initial state shown in the drawing. It has become.

  In this case, in the initial state shown in the figure, the bottom side edges of the flange recesses 133a, 134a of the metal fitting parts 133, 134 are substantially the same height as the upper edge parts of the protruding protrusions 131, 132, Only the distal end flanges of the portions 133 and 134 are in a state of protruding upward from the upper edge portions of the protruding protrusions 131 and 132. Therefore, for the purpose of illegally releasing the coupling of the metal fitting parts 133 and 134 with the mating member (specifically, the payout block 6), the metal fitting parts are hooked with hooks or wires on the metal depressions 133a and 134a. Even if it is going to pull down 133,134, it cannot be pulled down by the protruding protrusions 131,132. As a result, unauthorized opening of the payout block 6 described later is prevented.

  An extension plate portion 132 a is provided on the lower protruding projecting portion 132 above the lower metal fitting portion 134. The extension plate portion 132a is provided so as to close the flange recess portion 134a just above the flange recess portion 134a of the metal fitting portion 134, and the extension plate portion 132a allows the hook receiving member to be placed in the flange recess portion 134a. In a state where the hook receiving portion (specifically, the hook receiving portion on the payout block 6 side) is restrained, the hook receiving member is not easily detached.

  The base frame 121 is provided with a key cylinder 137 as an unlocking operation unit. The key cylinder 137 is provided so as to extend in the front-rear direction. When the inner frame 12 is assembled to the front door body 11, the front surface of the cylinder (the side where the key insertion hole is installed) is provided on the front door body 11. It will be exposed from the installation hole 62. The key cylinder 137 may be configured to use Omlock (registered trademark) having a high function of preventing unauthorized unlocking.

  Next, the operation of the locking device 120 that accompanies the operation of turning the operation key will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 13 shows a state in which the first interlocking rod 122 is moved upward by the rotation operation of the operation key, and accordingly, the metal fittings 125 and 126 are brought into the unlocked state. FIG. 14 also shows a state in which the second interlocking rod 123 is moved downward by the rotation operation of the operation key, and the hook metal parts 133 and 134 are brought into the unlocked state accordingly.

  In FIG. 13, an operation key (not shown) is inserted into the key cylinder 137 and rotated in the clockwise direction. Then, the first claw 122 moves upward against the urging force of the coil springs 127 and 128 by the lower claw piece 137a that is interlocked with the rotation operation of the key cylinder 137, and accordingly, the metal fittings 125 and 126 The tip collar moves downward. In such a case, in the gaming machine 1, when the door block 4 is closed with respect to the outer frame 2, the hook metal 125, 126 and the hook receiving metal on the outer frame 2 side are locked (that is, locked). Thus, the door block 4 can be opened with respect to the outer frame 2. Thereafter, when the rotation operation of the operation key is released, the first interlocking rod 122 and the metal fittings 125, 126 are returned to the initial state by the urging force of the coil springs 127, 128.

  On the other hand, in FIG. 14, an operation key (not shown) is inserted into the key cylinder 137 and rotated counterclockwise. Then, by the upper claw piece 137b interlocked with the rotation operation of the key cylinder 137, the first interlocking rod 122 and the second interlocking rod 123 move downward against the biasing force of the coil spring 135, and accordingly, the metal fitting portion 133 and 134 move downward. In such a case, in the gaming machine 1, when the payout block 6 is closed with respect to the door block 4, the hook metal parts 133, 134 and the hook receiving part on the payout block 6 side are locked (that is, locked). ) Is canceled. Then, the payout block 6 can be opened with respect to the door block 4. Thereafter, when the rotation operation of the operation key is released, the second interlocking rod 123 returns to the initial state by the biasing force of the coil spring 135.

  When the door block 4 is closed with respect to the outer frame 2, the hook receiving metal fitting on the outer frame 2 side is in the hook recess 126 a of the metal fitting 126, and the hook receiving metal fitting on the outer frame 2 side. Accordingly, the downward movement of the first interlocking rod 122 is inhibited. As a result, the locked state (that is, the locked state) between the hook metal parts 133 and 134 and the hook receiving part on the payout block 6 side cannot be released.

  As shown in FIG. 11, the lower frame portion 104 is formed with an intake unit accommodating portion 141 for accommodating the intake unit 16. Specifically, the take-in unit accommodating portion 141 is formed on one end side of the lower frame portion 104, and one end of the upper plate unit 15 is positioned above (see FIG. 7). The take-in unit accommodating portion 141 is a unit holding portion that holds the take-in unit 16 so as to surround the back side (the front side in the case of the gaming machine 1) and the left and right sides. A ball discharge chamber 142 for discharging game balls taken in by the take-in unit 16 is formed at the bottom of the take-in unit accommodating portion 141, and the game balls collected in the ball discharge chamber 142 are not shown. It is discharged to the outside of the gaming machine (such as island facilities in the gaming hall) through the discharge passage. Further, on the left side (left side when viewed from the back side) of the take-in unit accommodating portion 141, a game ball that is once guided to the take-in unit 16 and then discharged to the lower plate 71 (that is, returned to the player). A discharge passage 143 for allowing a game ball to pass therethrough is formed, and the game ball flowing into the discharge passage 143 has an opening 144 opened on the front side of the inner frame 12 and a lower pan discharge of the front door body 11. It is discharged to the lower plate 71 via the outlet 74. Further, a lower plate communication path 145 leading to the lower plate 71 is formed on the right side (right side when viewed from the back side) of the take-in unit accommodating portion 141, and the game balls flowing into the lower plate communication path 145 are Similarly to the game ball flowing into the discharge passage 143, the game ball is discharged to the lower plate 71 through the opening 144 of the inner frame 12 and the lower plate discharge port 74 of the front door body 11.

  The lower frame portion 104 is provided with a speaker 146. The speaker 146 is exposed forward from the speaker hole 75 of the front door body 11, and thereby the sound is emitted forward.

  On the back side of the inner frame 12, metal fittings 147 and 148 are provided as fixing means for fixing the payout block 6 attached to the back side of the door block 4 at the upper right corner and the side of the speaker 146. ing.

(Description of the upper plate unit 15)
Next, the upper plate unit 15 will be described. 15 is a perspective view seen from the front of the upper plate unit 15, FIG. 16 is a perspective view seen from the rear of the upper plate unit 15, FIG. 17A is a plan view of the upper plate unit 15, and FIG. FIG. 18 is an exploded perspective view of the upper plate unit 15.

  The upper plate unit 15 has an upper plate 151 having a function of temporarily storing game balls that are sequentially taken in during the game, and various cover members 157, 158, and 159 are attached to the upper surface side of the upper plate 151. It has been. A ball rental operating device 153, a discharge operation transmitting device 154, and a ball retaining device 155 are attached to the lower surface side of the upper plate 151.

  As shown in FIG. 17 (a), on the upper surface side of the upper plate unit 15, the back region of the upper plate 151 is covered by the first cover member 157 and the second cover member 158, and the front region of the upper plate 151. Is covered with a third cover member 159. Further, as shown in FIG. 17B, on the lower surface side of the upper plate unit 15, the ball lending operation device 153 and the discharge operation transmitting device 154 are arranged so as to overlap each other. A ball retainer 155 is disposed on the rear side (lower side in the figure) of the device 153 and the discharge operation transmission device 154.

(Description of the upper plate 151 and various cover members 157, 158, 159)
Next, the configuration of the upper plate 151 will be described. FIG. 19 is a perspective view of the upper plate 151, and FIG. 20 is a plan view of the upper plate 151.

  The upper plate 151 constitutes a tray member for temporarily storing game balls lent out from the ball lending device of the island facility or game balls paid out from the payout device. The bottom plate portion 161 and its peripheral portion Is formed into a horizontally long bowl shape. A sphere storage region is formed by being surrounded by the bottom plate portion 161 and the peripheral wall portion 162. Of the peripheral wall 162, the back side wall 166 is located on the back side of the transparent panel 13, and the back side wall 166 is provided with a discharge port 163 at a position on the left side when viewed from the front. In addition, the bottom plate portion 161 is provided with an opening 164 at a position on the right side when viewed from the front. In the upper plate 151, the inclination direction of the bottom plate portion 161 is roughly divided and is different between the near side region A1 and the deep side region A2, and the near side region A1 is generally inclined so as to become lower toward the deep side region A2, The back side region A2 is generally inclined so as to become lower from the discharge port 163 toward the opening 164. Therefore, when a game ball is discharged from the discharge port 163, the game ball finally flows toward the opening 164.

  The back side wall portion 166 has a height dimension of about 4 to 5 game balls, and the capacity of the ball storage area is secured. However, in the vicinity of the opening 164, a low-order part 166a that is shorter than the surrounding wall part is provided. By providing the lower portion 166a, the workability of the maintenance such as cleaning of the upper plate 151 is improved. This will be described later.

  A concave portion 165 having a concave shape on the back side is formed in the front wall portion of the peripheral wall portion 162, and when the upper plate unit 15 is assembled to the front door body 11 by the concave portion 165, Interference between the switch mounting plate 32 and the upper plate 151 is avoided.

  An extension wall 202 that extends to the left and constitutes one side (right side) of the opening 164 is integrally formed with the side wall 201 on the opening 164 side of the peripheral wall 162. The horizontal dimension X1 of the extending wall 202 is slightly larger than that of one game ball, and the upper surface 202a is inclined downward toward the front side. Further, the upper surface 202a is positioned higher than the near side region A1 and the back side region A2 and is positioned lower than the upper edge of the side wall portion 201 (see FIG. 27). A second cover member 158 is in contact with the side surface 202b of the extending wall portion 202, as will be described later.

  Two partition portions 167 and 168 that are raised from the bottom plate portion 161 are provided in the farthest downstream area A2 of the upper plate 151, and three rows are formed by partitioning the partition portions 167 and 168. The guide passages 171, 172, and 173 are formed. Each of these guide passages 171 to 173 is provided so as to communicate with the opening 164, and constitutes an alignment passage portion for aligning the game balls in each row. Each of the guide passages 171 to 173 has a passage length in which five or more game balls can be aligned. The intake unit 16 is located below the opening 164. As will be described later, the take-in unit 16 is formed by unitizing three take-in devices 301 to 303, and the game balls that have passed through the respective guide paths 171 to 173 are introduced into the corresponding take-in devices 301 to 303, respectively. Is done.

  The take-in unit 16 has a predetermined thickness in the front-rear direction because the three take-in devices 301 to 303 are unitized as described above. Therefore, since it is necessary to set the guide passages 171 to 173 apart in the front-rear direction, the downstream portions 167a, 168a of the partition portions 167, 168 have larger dimensions in the front-rear direction. However, since each partition part 167,168 needs to branch the game ball which flowed down from the upstream of back side area | region A2 to each guide path 171-173, upstream part 167b, 168b of each partition part 167,168 Has an acute angle. That is, each partition part 167,168 is tapering toward the upstream part 167b, 168b. Incidentally, the upper surfaces of the downstream portions 167a and 168a are inclined downward toward the downstream end portion, and through holes 167c and 168c penetrating in the vertical direction are formed in the vicinity of the end portion.

  As described above, the upper plate 151 is arranged so that the inner side wall portion 166 is positioned on the inner side of the transparent panel 13, and the inner region of the upper plate 151 in which the guide passages 171 to 173 are formed. The whole of A2 enters deeper than the transparent panel 13. Accordingly, each of the guide passages 171 to 173 constituting the exit passage of the upper plate 151 is disposed at a deep position, and the cheating attempt to insert the fraudulent jig into the take-in unit 16 through the respective guide passages 171 to 173 Is difficult to do. Moreover, in this structure, the front side of the front door body 11 and the back side of the top plate 151 are provided by providing the 1st cover member 157 and the 2nd cover member 158 which cover the upper side area | region A2 of the top plate 151. The inside of the gaming machine 1 is not opened to the front of the gaming machine between the ends.

  Here, the first cover member 157 and the second cover member 158 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 21 is an exploded perspective view of the upper plate unit 15 as viewed from the rear, FIG. 22 is an explanatory view for explaining the mounting structure of the first cover member 157, and FIG. 23 is a game machine including a partially broken surface. FIG. 24 is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 23, and FIG. 25 is a front view of the second cover member 158. In FIG. 22, for convenience of explanation, only members relating to the attachment of the first cover member 157 are shown, and other members are omitted.

  Both the first cover member 157 and the second cover member 158 are made of a synthetic resin material having transparency such as an acrylic resin or a polycarbonate resin. The first cover member 157 has a horizontally long plate shape in which the width dimension in the left-right direction is substantially the same as that of the upper plate 151 and the width dimension in the front-rear direction is shorter than that of the upper plate 151.

  As shown in FIGS. 15 and 22, the first cover member 157 has left and right end portions 231 and 232 and a back side end portion 233 supported by the peripheral wall portion 162 of the upper plate 151. Specifically, the left and right end portions 231 and 232 are integrally formed with projecting portions 231 a and 232 a that project downward, and these projecting portions 231 a and 232 a are placed on the left and right side wall portions 201 and 203 in the peripheral wall portion 162. ing. Further, a groove 233a opened downward is provided in the back end 233, and the upper edge of the back side wall 166 of the upper plate 151 enters the groove 233a. The first cover member 157 is screwed to the peripheral wall 162 through three through holes 234 formed in the right end 232 and the back end 233. Further, the front end 235 of the first cover member 157 is slightly raised upward, and through holes 236 penetrating in the front-rear direction are formed at three positions at predetermined intervals in the front end 235. Yes. As shown in FIG. 22, the front side end portion 235 is in contact with the lower end of the horizontally long window portion 50 of the door block 4 from the back side and is screwed through the through hole 236. Reference numeral 261 is a screw. With the above configuration, the first cover member 157 is formed on the upper plate 151 and the horizontally long window portion 50 without reducing the ball storage areas A1 and A2 of the upper plate 151 and without further reducing the upper ball storage space. It is fixed.

  The first cover member 157 is formed with an opening 237 along the upper edge of the second cover member 158 at a position close to the right end 232 above the guide passages 171 to 173. Specifically, the opening 237 is formed along the front side and the left and right sides of the upper end edge of the second cover member 158, and the left and right edges of the opening 237 are not connected on the back side. That is, the opening 237 is formed so as to be cut out from the back end of the first cover member 157 to the front side. A box-shaped second cover member 158 opened upward so as to be fitted into the opening 237 is disposed (see FIGS. 15 and 16). In this case, as shown in FIG. 21, the first cover member 157 is integrally formed with a series of support frame portions 238 that slightly protrude from the opening portion 237 to the inside of the opening, and the second cover member corresponding to this. A flange portion 241 extending outward is integrally formed at the upper end edge of 158. The flange portion 241 is provided over the entire upper edge except for a part on the back side. The second cover member 158 is suspended and supported by the first cover member 157 by placing the flange portion 241 on the support frame portion 238. In addition, a groove 241 a that is opened downward is provided in a portion of the flange portion 241 that does not rest on the support frame portion 238, that is, the back portion, and the back side wall portion 166 of the upper plate 151 is provided in the groove 241 a. The upper end has entered. Therefore, the second cover member 158 is supported not only by the first cover member 157 but also by the upper plate 151.

  Here, the position of the opening 237 in the first cover member 157 (that is, the position that supports the second cover member 158) is set so that the support strength of the second cover member 158 is increased. Specifically, the opening 237 of the first cover member 157 is formed to be spaced inward from the portion of the right end 232 that is placed on the side wall 201 of the upper plate 151. The spaced dimension X2 is slightly larger than that of one game ball (see FIGS. 21 and 27). As described above, the separation portion 239 is formed between the opening 237 and the right end 232, and the above-described groove 233a into which the upper edge of the rear side wall 166 of the upper plate 151 enters the rear end 233. (See FIG. 28). Therefore, in the configuration in which the second cover member 158 is supported at a position close to the right end 232 of the first cover member 157, the support strength of the second cover member 158 in the vicinity of the right end 232 is ensured. ing.

  Incidentally, in the configuration in which the opening 237 is formed apart from the right end 232, the extended wall 202 is formed on the side wall 201 of the upper plate 151 as described above. The right end surface 250 of the second cover member 158 is in contact with the side surface 202a of the extended wall portion 202 (see FIG. 26B). Thereby, the rightward movement of the second cover member 158 is restricted.

  The surface changing block 5 is located above the second cover member 158, and all the flange portions 241 of the second cover member 158 are in contact with the lower wall portion 557 of the surface changing block 5. 24, the flange portion 241 of the second cover member 158 is formed by the lower wall portion 557 of the surface changing block 5 from the upper side of the support frame portion 238 and the upper plate 151 of the first cover member 157 from the lower side. It is sandwiched by both the back side wall portions 166. Thereby, the second cover member 158 is fixed to the upper plate 151. Therefore, the second cover member 158 cannot be removed unless the surface changing block 5 is rotated rearward from the door block 4, and the fixing of a fixing tool such as a screw or a screw is released by rotating the surface changing block 5. It can be removed without any operation.

  As shown in FIG. 21 and the like, a leaf spring portion 243 that flexes in the front-rear direction is formed integrally with the back wall portion 242 of the second cover member 158, and the back spring portion 243 has a back end at a position near the lower end. A hooking portion 244 protruding to the side is integrally formed. A hook receiving portion 166b is integrally formed with the lower portion 166a of the upper plate 151 so as to correspond to the hook portion 244. Therefore, by supporting the second cover member 158 on the first cover member 157, the hook portion 244 is hooked on the hook receiving portion 166b, and the second cover member 158 is temporarily fixed to the upper plate 151. A hook receiver 245 is integrally formed at the back corner of the second cover member 158, and an engagement hook member 532 (to be described later) of the surface changing block 5 is prevented from rotating by the hook receiver 245. .

  By providing the first cover member 157 and the second cover member 158 as described above, as shown in FIGS. 23 and 24, the horizontally long window portion 50 of the door block 4 and the back side wall portion 166 of the upper plate 151 are provided. Are connected via a first cover member 157 and a second cover member 158 so that the inside of the gaming machine 1 is not opened forward of the gaming machine between the two. If the inside of the gaming machine 1 is opened to the front of the gaming machine between the two, fingers or fraudulent jigs, etc. inserted from the near side of the upper plate 151 to the far side are opened upward on the far side of the upper plate. There is a concern that inconvenience may occur such that an illegal act or the like is performed inside the gaming machine 1 through the portion and inside the gaming machine. In contrast, since the first cover member 157 and the second cover member 158 are provided as described above, an illegal act by inserting a finger or a fraudulent jig into the gaming machine 1 through the upper plate 151 is prevented. Can be suppressed.

  The second cover member 158 has a box shape that opens upward as described above and has a predetermined height. The bottom wall 246 of the second cover member 158 covers the opening 164 of the upper plate 151 and a part of each of the guide passages 171 to 173 from above. In this case, the bottom wall portion 246 of the second cover member 158 is inclined so as to be lowered toward the opening portion 164, and as shown in FIG. 24, the bottom wall portion 246 of the second cover member 158 and each guide The distance H between the bottom surfaces 171a to 173a of the passages 171 to 173 has a relationship of R <H≈1.1R <2R with respect to the diameter R of the game ball. That is, the second cover member 158 also functions as a passage height restriction member for restricting the height dimension of each guide passage 171 to 173 to approximately one game ball. Accordingly, the game balls are prevented from being stacked in the respective guide passages 171 to 173, and the game balls smoothly flow down through the respective guide passages 171 to 173.

  As shown in FIG. 24, the bottom wall portion 246 is not in contact with the upper surfaces of the partition portions 167 and 168, and a slight gap is provided between them. Thereby, even when the second cover member 158 sinks downward when sandwiched between the first cover member 157 and the surface changing block 5, a load is applied to the bottom wall portion 246 and the partition portions 167 and 168. The bottom wall portion 246 and the partition portions 167 and 168 are prevented from being damaged. Further, the bottom wall portion 246 extends from the midway position of the partition portions 167 and 168 toward the downstream side in the game ball flow direction. Not covered by. However, the upper wall portion 247 of the second cover member 158 is located above the uncovered portions of the upstream portions 167b and 168b.

  In the configuration in which the upper portions of the guide passages 171 to 173 are covered with the second cover member 158, as described above, the second cover member 158 is formed in a box shape opened upward by a transparent material. Further, a horizontally long window portion 50 is provided between the transparent panel 13 and the upper plate 151 so as to recede from the transparent panel 13. And this retreated position is from the virtual line (dotted line of FIG. 23) which connected viewpoint PV1, PV2, PV3 of the general player who plays a game in the said gaming machine 1, and the back guide passage 173. Is on the back side. Thereby, even from the viewpoint of the player in front of the transparent panel 13, the back side area A <b> 2 of the upper plate 151 such as the guide paths 171 to 173 at the back position is visible. Further, in the configuration in which the horizontally long window portion 50 is provided so as to be retracted from the transparent panel 13, the horizontally long window portion 50 is positioned on the near side of the guide passages 171 to 173. In other words, the guide passages 171 to 173 are located at the back, and the deterrence preventing effect is not lost.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 25, the bottom wall 246 of the second cover member 158 has two insertion protrusions 248 projecting downward and a position downstream of the insertion protrusion 248 in the game ball flow direction. Similarly, two guide protrusions 249 protruding downward are integrally formed (in FIG. 25, only the insertion protrusion 248 and the guide protrusion 249 on the front side are shown). The insertion protrusion 248 has a cylindrical shape, whereas the guide protrusion 249 has a tapered shape downward. More specifically with respect to the guide protrusion 249, the tapered portion of the protrusion 249 is such that the upstream side surface 249a of the game ball flow direction is perpendicular to the passage direction, and the downstream side surface 249b is inclined with respect to the passage direction. It has become.

  With the insertion protrusion 248 and the guide protrusion 249, the second cover member 158 can be easily placed on the upper plate 151. Here, an outline of the arrangement work will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 26A shows a state where the second cover member 158 is being arranged, and FIG. 26B shows a state where the arrangement of the second cover member 158 is completed. In FIG. 26, the discharge operation transmission device 154 and the ball stopper device 155 attached to the lower surface side of the upper plate 151 are omitted. In the following description, the front-side partition 167 will be described, but the same applies to the rear-side partition 168.

  As shown in FIG. 26A, the second cover member 158 is placed on the upper plate 151 with respect to the opening 237 of the first cover member 157 with the upper wall portion 247 of the second cover member 158. It is performed by inserting in the right direction (the game ball flow down direction in the guide passages 171 to 173). At this time, the movement of the second cover member 158 in the insertion direction is guided by sliding the guide protrusion 249 along the inclination of the upstream portion 167a of the partition portion 167. Then, as the second cover member 158 is inserted, the right end surface 250 (downstream end surface) of the second cover member 158 is the side surface of the extending wall portion 202 in the upper plate 151 as shown in FIG. The movement in the insertion direction is restricted by coming into contact with 202b. By supporting the second cover member 158 on the upper plate 151 and the first cover member 157 at the restricted position, the insertion protrusion 248 is inserted into the through hole 167a of the partition portion 167, and the guide protrusion 249 The upstream side surface 249 a comes into contact with the downstream end surface 167 d of the partition portion 167, and the second cover member 158 is positioned with respect to the upper plate 151.

  Here, since the insertion portion of the insertion projection 248 is provided as the through holes 167 c and 168 c, the second cover member 158 sinks downward when sandwiched between the first cover member 157 and the surface changing block 5. Even so, the tip of the insertion protrusion 248 does not hit the insertion portion, and the damage to the insertion protrusion 248 is prevented. As shown in FIG. 25, a protrusion 248 is integrally formed around the insertion protrusion 248 in the bottom wall 246, and an extremely large load is applied to the second cover member 158. Even if the two cover member 158 sinks greatly, it is possible to prevent the protruding portion 248 from hitting the partition portions 167 and 168 and the height of each guide passage 171 to 173 to be less than one game ball.

  In the upper plate 151, the front side of the three rows of guide passages 171 to 173 is higher than the passages 171 to 173, and a ball rental operating device 153 and the like are installed in the higher portion. A ball rental operating device installation unit 175 that protects the ball operating device 153 and the like is provided. The ball lending operation device installation portion 175 is formed with two left and right circular concave portions 176 and 177 and a rectangular window portion 178.

  As shown in FIG. 18, the ball rental operating device 153 includes an operating device substrate 181 and a base plate 182 for installing the operating device substrate 181, and the operating device substrate 181 is installed on the base plate 182. As a result, a ball rental operating device 153 is configured.

  The ball lending operation device 153 is, for example, a ball lending operation, a card or the like in a state where a bill or a card is inserted into a vertically long card unit (ball lending unit) arranged on the side (for example, the left side) of the gaming machine 1. The ball lending button 183, the return button 184, and the frequency display unit 185 are integrally arranged in parallel on the operation device substrate 181. In this case, the ball lending button 183 is operated to obtain a lending ball based on information recorded on a card (recording medium) or the like, and the lending ball is paid out as long as the remaining amount exists on the card or the like. . The return button 184 is operated when requesting the return of a card or the like inserted into the card unit. The frequency display portion 185 displays the remaining amount information of the card, the amount of money inserted, and the like.

  Since the ball rental operation device 153 is installed in the ball rental operation device installation unit 175, the frequency display unit 185 can be visually recognized from the window 178 of the ball rental operation device installation unit 175. Push button members 186 and 187 each having a hemispherical shape are attached to the circular recesses 176 and 177 of the ball lending operation device installation portion 175. The button 183 and the return button 184 are pressed, and accordingly, the rental of game balls, the return of cards, and the like are appropriately performed.

  A third cover member 159 is placed over the ball rental operation device installation unit 175 so as to protect the frequency display unit 185 of the ball rental operation device 153. Since the third cover member 159 is formed of a transparent synthetic resin material such as an acrylic resin or a polycarbonate resin, even if the third cover member 159 is put on the frequency display portion 185, the frequency display is visually recognized. It is possible. In addition, two circular holes 272 are formed in the upper surface forming part 271 of the third cover member 159, and the push button members 186 and 187 are exposed through these holes 272. Thereby, the push operation of the push button members 186 and 187 is possible.

  In this case, the front side installation portion 175a in which the circular concave portions 176 and 177 and the window portion 178 of the ball rental operation device installation portion 175 are formed is inclined downward toward the front side end portion. Further, the front side inclined region 271a located above the circular recesses 176 and 177 and the window part 178 in the upper surface forming part 271 of the third cover member 159 is also inclined downward toward the front side end part (FIG. 28). reference). The inclinations of the front side installation part 175a and the front side inclination area 271a are relatively gentle such that the ball rental operation device installation part 175 and the front side inclination area 271a face obliquely upward. Therefore, the visibility of the frequency display unit 185 is improved, and the operability of the push button members 186 and 187 is further improved.

  That is, a player who plays a game on the gaming machine 1 generally sits in front of the gaming machine 1 to play a game, and the height of the player's eyes and shoulders is higher than the upper plate 151. is there. In this case, since the near side installation portion 175a and the near side inclined region 271a face obliquely upward on the near side, the frequency display portion 185 and the push button members 186 and 187 face obliquely upward on the near side. Therefore, the player can easily visually recognize the display of the frequency display unit 185 only by facing diagonally downward, and the player moves the arm diagonally downward toward the push button members 186 and 187 to thereby push the push button member. This is because 187 and 188 can be pressed without difficulty. A pair of fixing hooks 273 for fixing the third cover member 159 to the upper plate 151 are integrally formed at the front side end portion of the third cover member 159.

  A large number of game balls are stored in the upper plate 151 described above. In this case, depending on the player, there is a possibility that a number of game balls exceeding the capacity may be thrown into the near side area A1 and the back side area A2 of the upper plate 151. On the other hand, in this Embodiment, it has the structure by which the overflow from the upper plate 151 of the surplus game ball is suppressed. Such a configuration will be described below with reference to FIGS. 27 and 28 are diagrams for explaining the movement of the surplus game balls. In FIGS. 27 and 28, the door block 4 and the ball rental operating device 153 are omitted.

  As described above, the upper plate 151 is provided with a ball rental operating device installation unit 175 on the front side of the guide passages 171 to 173. The ball rental operating device 153 is installed in the installation unit 175 and covers it. A third cover member 159 is provided. The horizontal dimension of the third cover member 159 is slightly larger than the horizontal dimension of the front end surface 251 of the second cover member 158. Regarding the position of the third cover member 159 in the left-right direction, the left end portion of the third cover member 159 is at the same position as the left end portion of the front end surface 251 of the second cover member 158, and the right side of the third cover member 159 The end is in contact with the side wall 201 of the upper plate 151.

  The ball lending operation device installation portion 175 has a back-side installation portion 175b inclined downward toward the back-side end portion, and the third cover member 159 has a back-side inclination region 271b inclined to the back-side installation portion 175b. Along the back side and toward the back end. Further, the back end of the third cover member 159 is in contact with the front end face 168 of the second cover member 158. In this case, as shown in FIG. 27, the back side inclined region 271 b of the third cover member 159 is lower than the upper edge of the side wall 201 of the upper plate 151. This height difference dimension X3 is larger than one game ball. As a result, even if a large number of game balls are thrown into the front side area A1 and the back side area A2 of the upper plate 151 and the game balls are placed on the back side inclined area 271b of the third cover member 159, the game balls Overflow from the plate 151 is suppressed. From this point of view, the back-side inclined region 271b of the third cover member 159 serves as an auxiliary reservoir for excess game balls. Further, the back side inclined region 271 b of the third cover member 159 is inclined downward toward the near side region A 1 of the upper plate 151. Therefore, if the number of game balls stored in the near side area A1 of the upper plate 151 is reduced, the game balls retreated in the back side inclined area 271b of the third cover member 159 are naturally in the near side area A1 of the upper plate 151. It will flow down.

  The above function as an auxiliary storage part is added not only to the back-side inclined region 271b of the third cover member 159 but also to the extending wall part 202 of the upper plate 151 described above. That is, as described above, the dimension of the extending wall 202 in the left-right direction is slightly larger than that of one game ball, and the upper surface 202a of the extending wall 202 is positioned lower than the upper edge of the side wall 201 of the upper plate 151. doing. The height difference dimension X4 is slightly larger than one game ball. Further, the side surface 202b of the extending wall portion 202 is in contact with the right end surface 250 of the second cover member 158 (see FIG. 26B). Therefore, an area defined by the peripheral wall 162 of the upper plate 151 and the second cover member 158 is formed above the extending wall 202. The upper surface 202a of the extending wall 202 is inclined downward toward the front side, and the front side end is located at the same height as the back side end of the third cover member 159, and the third cover member 159. Is communicated with the rear side inclined region 271b.

  As described above, when game balls enough to fill the back side inclined region 271b of the third cover member 159 are thrown into the near side region A1 and the back side region A2 of the upper plate 151, the surplus game balls extend. Withdrawing onto the upper surface 202a of the wall 202, the game ball is prevented from overflowing from the upper plate 151. Further, as described above, the upper surface 202a of the extending wall portion 202 is inclined downward toward the front side and communicates with the back side inclined region 271b of the third cover member 159, so that it retracts to the back side inclined region 271b. If the number of played game balls decreases, the game balls retreated to the upper surface 202a will naturally flow down to the back side inclined area 271b. Finally, the game ball flows down to the near side area A1 of the upper plate 151.

(Description of discharge operation transmission device 154)
Next, the discharge operation transmission device 154 will be described. This discharge operation transmission device 154 is a ball removal operation device for operating a discharge gate member 340 of the take-in unit 16 described later to discharge the stored balls in the upper plate 151 to the lower plate 71, and its detailed configuration Is shown in FIGS. 29 and 30.

  As shown in FIGS. 29 and 30, in the discharge operation transmission device 154, the case body 191 is provided with two shaft portions 192 and 193, and the shaft portions 192 and 193 have first link pieces 194 and 194, respectively. A second link piece 195 is rotatably supported. The first and second link pieces 194 and 195 are partially connected to each other, and the second link piece 195 rotates in conjunction with the first link piece 194. The first link piece 194 is provided with a tension spring 196, and the first link piece 194 is always biased in the same direction (counterclockwise direction in the figure) by the spring force of the tension spring 196. In addition, an operation lever 198 that is movable in the left-right direction is provided on the front side end surface of the case body 191, and a support column 198 a provided integrally with the operation lever 198 is provided on the first link piece 194. It is inserted through the hole 194a. Therefore, the first link piece 194 rotates around the shaft portion 192 as the operating lever 198 is slid.

  In the discharging operation transmission device 154 having the above-described configuration, the operation lever 198 is slid to the left (P1 direction in FIG. 30) from the illustrated position by a player or the like, whereby the first link piece 194 is the spring of the tension spring 196. While rotating in the clockwise direction (P2 direction in FIG. 30) against the force, the second link piece 195 rotates in the counterclockwise direction (P3 direction in FIG. 30). Thereby, the rotation front-end | tip part of the 2nd link piece 195 moves to the back side (P4 direction of FIG. 30). When the operation lever 198 is released, the first link piece 194 is rotated counterclockwise by the spring force of the tension spring 196 and the second link piece 195 is rotated clockwise. To do. Thereby, the discharge operation transmission device 154 returns to the original state. By such an operation of the discharge operation transmission device 154, a discharge gate member 340 of the take-in unit 16 described later is operated, and game balls are discharged through the take-in unit 16 (actually, the game balls are discharged to the lower plate 71). ) Is to be performed.

(Description of the ball stopper device 155)
Next, the ball retainer 155 will be described. This ball stopper device 155 is a game ball fall prevention device for preventing a game ball from spilling down from the upper plate 151 when the take-in unit 16 installed below the upper plate 151 is removed. A detailed configuration will be described below. 31 is an exploded perspective view of the ball-clamping device 155, FIG. 32 is a plan view showing a single unit configuration of the ball-clamping device 155, and FIG. 33 is a rear view showing a state in which the take-in unit 16 is mounted below and separated from the upper plate 151 It is a rear view shown from the side. In addition, as an operation state of the ball stopper 155, (a) of FIG. 32 and (a) of FIG. 33 correspond, and (b) of FIG. 32 and (b) of FIG. 33 correspond.

  The ball fastening device 155 includes a main body 211 fixed to the lower surface of the upper plate 151, a movable part 212 mounted on the main body 211 and capable of reciprocating in the vertical direction in FIG. And an operation lever 213 that is rotated to reciprocate in the direction. And this ball-clamping device 155 is assembled to the upper plate 151 so that the operation lever 213 is located behind the gaming machine.

  Three arms 214, 215, and 216 are formed on the movable portion 212 so as to be aligned in the same direction. Each of the arm portions 214 to 216 is bifurcated, and two rising portions 217, 218, and 219 are formed at the tip of the arm portions so as to be bent upward (front side in FIG. 32). ing. The intervals between the arm portions 214 to 216 formed in the movable portion 212 are matched with the three guide passages 171 to 173 formed in the upper plate 151, and the standing portions 217 to 219 of the arm portions 214 to 216 are The upper plate 151 emerges from the opening 164 leading to the guide passages 171 to 173. Further, a groove portion 220 extending in the same direction as the operation lever 213 is formed on the lower surface side of the movable portion 212.

  The operation lever 213 has a shaft portion 221 supported by the main body portion 211, and can be rotated within an angle range of approximately 90 degrees. Projection pieces 222 a and 222 b extending radially from the shaft center at an angle of 90 degrees are formed on the shaft portion 221, and the protrusion pieces 222 a and 222 b are accommodated in a groove portion 220 formed in the movable portion 212. Yes. The width in the left-right direction of the groove part 220 is substantially the same as the diameter of the shaft part 221 and the length of the protruding piece 222a or 222b. In this case, in the state of FIG. 32A and FIG. 33A, the tip of one projection piece 222a hits the inner wall of the groove 220, and the operation lever 213 is rotated to operate FIG. When the state shifts to the state (b), the tip of the other protruding piece 222b comes into contact with the inner wall of the groove 220 (for convenience, the protruding pieces 222a and 222b are indicated by point hatches in FIGS. 32 and 33). As a result, the movable portion 212 moves in the left-right direction. In FIG. 32, due to the movement of the movable portion 212 in the left-right direction, the protruding amounts of the tips of the arm portions 214 to 216 of the movable portion 212 are different between (a) and (b). In (a), the tip protrusion amount = L1, whereas in (b), the tip protrusion amount = L2 (L1 <L2).

  The operation lever 213 is provided with a holding plate piece 224 for holding the take-in unit 16 in a state of being mounted on the door block 4 (specifically, the inner frame 12). The hold plate piece 224 has a tongue shape extending from the shaft center of the shaft portion 221, and the hold plate piece 224 is rotated by operating the operation lever 213, as shown in FIGS. Are operated at the positions shown in FIG.

  Here, the mutual relationship between the operation position of the operation lever 213 and the capture unit 16 will be described. When the operation lever 213 is in the state shown in FIG. 33 (a), the rotating tip of the holding plate piece 224 provided integrally with the operation lever 213 is in contact with the back surface of the capture unit 16. This is the take-in unit holding position (lock position). In this state, the take-in unit 16 is held in a state where it is attached to the door block 4 (specifically, the inner frame 12), and the take-in unit 16 cannot be removed. On the other hand, when the operation lever 213 shifts to the state shown in FIG. 33B, the state in which the rotation tip of the hold plate piece 224 hits the back surface of the take-in unit 16 is released. This is the take-in unit removal position (unlock position). Thereby, the take-in unit 16 can be removed (a state where the take-in unit 16 is removed is shown in FIG. 33B).

  FIG. 34 shows the relationship between the operation state of the ball retainer 155 and the flow of the game ball. In FIG. 34, (a) shows a normal gaming state, and this state corresponds to the state of (a) of FIG. 32 and the state of (a) of FIG. Further, (b) and (c) show the removable state and the removed state of the take-in unit 16, which correspond to the states shown in FIG. 32 (b) and FIG. 33 (b). ing.

  In the state of FIG. 34 (a), as shown in FIG. 32 (a), the protruding amounts of the arms 214 to 216 of the movable portion 212 are relatively small. The flow of game balls supplied from 173 is not blocked. Therefore, game balls are successively sent to the take-in unit 16 side.

  On the other hand, in the state of FIG. 34 (b), as shown in FIG. 32 (b), the protruding amount of the tip of each arm part 214 to 216 of the movable part 212 is relatively large. The flow of the game ball supplied from the guide passages 171 to 173 is blocked by the tip portions (standing portions 217 to 219) of the arm portions 214 to 216. In this state, since the game ball is not sent to the take-in unit 16 side, as shown in (c), even if the take-in unit 16 is removed, the game ball in the upper plate 151 may fall. Is prevented.

(Description of capture unit 16)
The take-in unit 16 constitutes a take-in means for taking in a predetermined number of game balls based on an operation by the player. Each take-in unit 16 takes in a predetermined number of game balls. The (game) start condition is satisfied, and preparations for starting the game are made.

  35 is a perspective view of the capture unit 16 as viewed from the front side, FIG. 36 is a perspective view of the capture unit 16 as viewed from the rear side, and FIG. 37 is an exploded perspective view of the capture unit 16. The take-in unit 16 is provided with three take-in devices 301, 302, and 303 so as to overlap each other, and the take-up unit 16 has a substantially cubic shape as a whole. In the following description, the capture device 301 located on the near side in FIG. 35 is referred to as “first capture device”, the capture device 302 located in the center is referred to as “second capture device”, and the capture device located on the back side. The device 303 is also referred to as a “third capture device”.

  Entrance passages 305, 306, and 307 are formed on the upper surface of each of the take-in devices 301 to 303, and these entrance passages 305 to 307 constitute a game ball entrance portion in the take-in unit 16. The intake unit 16 is arranged such that the inlet passages 305 to 307 communicate directly with the guide passages 171 to 173 provided in the upper plate 151. Therefore, the game balls supplied from the upper plate 151 are directly guided to the entrance passages 305 to 307. Then, the images are sequentially taken in a line. A coupling case member 308 for coupling them is attached to the side surfaces of the respective capture devices 301 to 303. In the coupling case member 308, a take-in unit relay board 309 that collects the electrical wiring and the like in the take-in unit 16 at a time and can be electrically connected to the main control device or the like is accommodated.

(Description of capture devices 301-303)
Next, the configuration of each of the capture devices 301 to 303 will be described. However, since each of the capture devices 301 to 303 has substantially the same configuration, the third capture device 303 is basically described as an example here. FIG. 38 is a cross-sectional view showing the internal structure of the capture device 303, and FIG. 39 is an exploded perspective view showing the capture device 303. In the following description, for the sake of convenience, the vertical and horizontal directions are described in the state shown in FIG.

  The take-in device 303 includes a pair of front and back housing members 311 and 312 made of a synthetic resin molded product. These two housings 311 and 312 are connected by screws or the like to form a substantially square box-shaped housing, and a game ball passage to be described later is formed in the internal space, and an opening / closing gate for opening and closing the passage The mechanism is accommodated. Each housing 311, 312 is molded from a black resin material containing carbon. For convenience of explanation, the housing member 311 is also referred to as a “first housing”, and the housing member 312 is also referred to as a “second housing”.

  The upper walls of the first housing 311 and the second housing 312 are respectively formed with passage walls 313 and 314 that are slightly lower than one game ball, and the two housings 311 and 312 are coupled to face each other. The inlet passage 307 is formed between the passage walls 313 and 314. That is, the upper wall of the entrance passage 307 is removed. With this configuration, the inlet passage 307 is open upward and exposed to the outside of the housing.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 40, the intake unit 16 has the inlet passages 305 to 307 disposed below the open area formed by the opening 164 formed in the upper plate 151. As described above, the opening 164 is covered with the second cover member 158. Therefore, the upper surface open side of each of the inlet passages 305 to 307 is covered with the second cover member 158 as shown in FIG. In this case, as shown in FIG. 34 (a), the distance between the bottom surfaces of the inlet passages 305 to 307 and the bottom wall portion 246 of the second cover member 158 is approximately one game ball. Thereby, the dimension in the height direction of each of the entrance passages 305 to 307 is generally restricted to one game ball, and the game balls flow down one by one in each of the entrance passages 305 to 307. Further, as described above, the second cover member 158 is formed in a box shape opened upward by a transparent material, and further, as shown in FIG. 23, the back side of the upper plate 151 including the opening 164 Since the horizontally long window portion 50 is also provided so as to be recognizable in the area A2, the inside of the entrance passages 305 to 307 can be visually recognized. The bottom surface of the inlet passage 305 is slightly inclined downward toward the left side of FIG.

  The intake device 303 is provided with an intake passage 315 and a discharge passage 316 so as to be surrounded by the first housing 311 and the second housing 312 on the downstream side of the inlet passage 307. Similar to the entrance passage 307, the intake passage 315 and the discharge passage 316 have passage widths sufficient to allow the game balls to pass in a row. The intake passage 315 is provided continuously to the inlet passage 307 and is formed to bend in the vertical direction in the middle thereof. When a predetermined game start operation is performed by the player, a predetermined number of game balls, which are conditions for starting each game, are taken in through the take-in passage 315. Further, the discharge passage 316 is provided so as to be branched from the bent portion (corner portion) of the intake passage 315 from the intake passage 315. At the time of payment at the end of the game, the game balls remaining on the take-in device 303 and the upper plate 151 are returned to the player through the discharge passage 316 (ie, the upper plate 151 and the like are removed). )

  The first housing 311 and the second housing 312 have different thickness dimensions, and most of the inlet passage 307, the intake passage 315, and the discharge passage 316 are formed on the first housing 311 side. It has come to be. As a result, the path where the game balls actually come into contact with each other is a part deviated from the boundary part (joint part) between the housings 311 and 312, and the flow of the game ball is obstructed by dust, dust, etc. accumulated in the boundary part. Inconvenience is to be avoided.

  Further, the first and second housings 311 and 312 are provided with a straight protrusion 317 along the inlet passage 307 and the intake passage 315. The protruding portion 317 is in contact with the outer peripheral surface of the game ball passing through the inlet passage 307 and the intake passage 315 (in the inlet passage 307, the central portion in the vertical width direction, the intake portion). In the passage 315, it is provided in the central portion in the left-right width direction. The height of the protrusion 317 (projecting dimension to the inside of the passage) is about 0.5 mm, so that the passage widths of the inlet passage 307 and the intake passage 315 are narrowed. That is, the entrance passage 307 and the intake passage 315 basically have a passage width of about 12 mm, but the provision of the protrusion 317 narrows the substantial passage width to about 11.5 mm. Thereby, the clearance gap (play) between the inner wall of the entrance passage 307 and the intake passage 315 and the game ball can be reduced, and the game ball flows down in a stable state. In particular, in the take-in passage 315, game ball detection, which will be described later, is performed, so that detection errors can be reduced. However, the protrusion 317 may be configured to be provided only on one of the first and second housings 311 and 312. Installation of the protrusion 317 in the rectifying unit is arbitrary.

  A take-in gate member 320 is provided on the side of the take-in passage 315 in the housing internal space so as to follow the vertical direction portion of the take-in passage 315. The take-in gate member 320 is rotatably supported by a support shaft 321, and the claw portion 320 a provided at the distal end portion of the take-in gate member 320 is taken in by turning about the support shaft 321. Invade with respect to the passage 315. At this time, a passage notch 322 is formed in the passage wall of the take-in passage 315, and the claw portion 320 a of the take-in gate member 320 goes in and out through the passage notch 322. When the claw portion 320a of the take-in gate member 320 protrudes from the take-in passage 315, the game ball is prevented from passing through the take-in passage 315. Further, when the claw portion 320a of the take-in gate member 320 is immersed in the take-in passage 315, the game ball is allowed to pass through the take-in passage 315.

  In such a case, since the protruding and retracting position of the claw portion 320a of the intake gate member 320 is a position immediately downstream of the corner portion in the intake passage 315, in other words, the passage notch portion 322 is immediately downstream of the corner portion in the intake passage 315. Therefore, in the state where the claw portion 320a of the intake gate member 320 protrudes into the passage (passage prevention state), the game ball flowing to the corner portion of the intake passage 315 is in the intake passage 315. It has a configuration that does not flow into the vertical part.

  A solenoid 325 is disposed in the housing internal space as a drive source for the take-in gate member 320. The solenoid 325 has an output shaft 325a that moves in the expansion / contraction direction when energized. The solenoid 325 is disposed so that the output shaft 325a protrudes downward on the right side of the take-in gate member 320. The output shaft 325a of the solenoid 325 is provided with a coil spring 326 for holding the output shaft 325a in an extended state. The solenoid 325 is fixed to the first housing 311 by a solenoid cover 327.

  A guide 331 is attached to the tip of the solenoid output shaft 325a. A part of the rotating piece 332 is engaged with the guide 331, and the other part of the rotating piece 332 is drivingly connected to the rear end portion of the take-in gate member 320. Reference numeral 333 is a support shaft that is provided substantially at the center of the rotating piece 332 and rotatably supports the rotating piece 332.

  According to this configuration, when the solenoid 325 is not energized, the output shaft 325a is held in an extended state by the urging force of the coil spring 326 as shown, and the claw portion 320a of the take-in gate member 320 is taken in the take-in passage. It is in a state of protruding into 315. Thereby, the intake passage 315 is closed. On the other hand, when the solenoid 325 is energized, the output shaft 325a moves in the contracting direction against the urging force of the coil spring 326. Therefore, the take-in gate member 320 is turned through the guide 331 and the turning piece 332 (turned clockwise in FIG. 38), and the claw portion 320a of the take-in gate member 320 is moved out of the take-in passage 315. Retracted. Thereby, the intake passage 315 is opened. When the energization of the solenoid 325 is stopped, the output shaft 325 a is extended by the urging force of the coil spring 326, and the claw portion 320 a of the take-in gate member 320 returns to the state in which it protrudes into the take-in passage 315.

  On the other hand, through holes 337 and 338 are respectively provided at the inlet positions of the discharge passage 316 in the first and second housings 311 and 312, and the discharge gates pass through the through holes 337 and 338 in the front-rear direction. A member 340 is provided. The discharge gate member 340 is not provided individually to the capture devices 301 to 303 but is provided in common to all the capture devices 301 to 303. Depending on the operating state of the discharge gate member 340, each In the take-in devices 301 to 303, the discharge (ball removal) of the game balls is allowed or prevented at the same time.

  Here, details of the discharge gate member 340 will be described with reference to FIG. The discharge gate member 340 has a substantially rectangular shape as a whole, and substantially square openings 341, 342, 343 are formed at three locations. These openings 341 to 343 respectively correspond to the discharge passages 316 provided in the respective intake devices 301 to 303, and are provided at regular intervals. The openings 341 to 343 constitute a part of the discharge passage 316. In this case, when the discharge gate member 340 moves in the longitudinal direction (the front-rear direction of the take-in unit 153), the discharge passage 316 is closed or opened. That is, when the discharge gate member 340 is in the initial position, the discharge passage 316 of each of the capture devices 301 to 303 is closed by the wall plate portion of the discharge gate member 340, and the discharge of the game ball through the passage 316 is prevented. . Further, when the discharge gate member 340 moves in the longitudinal direction, the discharge passages 316 of the intake devices 301 to 303 are simultaneously opened by the openings 341 to 343 of the discharge gate member 340, and the game balls passing through the passages 316 are opened. Emission is allowed.

  Ball guide protrusions 344, 345, and 346 are formed below the openings 341 to 343, respectively. The upper surfaces of the ball guide protrusions 344 to 346 are continuously provided at the same angle as the upper surfaces of the bottoms of the openings 341 to 343, and the angle matches the inclination angle of the inlet portion of the discharge passage 316. . Accordingly, when the game ball flows into the discharge passage 316 through the openings 341 to 343, the game ball passes while rolling on the ball guide protrusions 344 to 346, and the game ball flows into the discharge passage 316. Will be performed smoothly.

  A spring receiving portion 347 is formed at one end of the discharge gate member 340, and a rod portion 348 is formed at the other end. In this case, as shown in FIG. 37 and the like, a cover member 351 is provided outside the third take-in device 303, and a coil spring 352 is incorporated between the cover member 351 and the spring receiving portion 347 of the discharge gate member 340. . Reference numeral 353 denotes a spring accommodating portion for accommodating the coil spring 352.

  The discharge gate member 340 is always urged in one direction by the urging force of the coil spring 352. At this time, the discharge gate member 340 is held at the initial position (position where the discharge passage 316 is closed) by the biasing force of the coil spring 352, and when a force is applied from the rod portion 348, the discharge gate member 340 resists the biasing force of the coil spring 352. 316 shifts to the open position.

  As shown in FIG. 35 and the like, a rod portion 348 protrudes on the first take-in device 301 side in the take-in unit 16 so that the rod portion 348 is pushed by the discharge operation transmission device 154 described above. It has become. As shown in FIG. 41 and the like, a protruding portion 355 extending in the longitudinal direction of the discharge gate member 340 is formed below the spring receiving portion 347 at one end portion of the discharge gate member 340. On the other hand, a discharge gate detection sensor 356 is provided on the cover member 351 provided on one end side of the discharge gate member 340. In this configuration, when the discharge gate member 340 is operated in accordance with the operation of the discharge operation transmission device 154, the operation state is sequentially detected by the discharge gate detection sensor 356. Details will be described with reference to FIG. 42A shows an initial state before the rod portion 348 (discharge gate member 340) is pushed in, and FIG. 42B shows a state where the rod portion 348 (discharge gate member 340) is pushed.

  As shown in FIG. 42, a discharge operation transmission device 154 is provided on the side of the take-in unit 16 (the front side in the gaming machine 1), and the tip of the rod portion 348 is the second link of the discharge operation transmission device 154. Opposite the rotating tip of the piece 195. In this case, in FIG. 42A, since the discharge gate member 340 is in the initial position, the inlet of the discharge passage 316 is closed and the flow of the game ball into the discharge passage 316 is prevented. In this state, the protrusion 355 of the discharge gate member 340 does not protrude outward from the capture device 303, and the protrusion 355 is not detected by the discharge gate detection sensor 356.

  On the other hand, in FIG. 42B, the link pieces 194 and 195 are rotated by the operation of the operation lever 198 in the discharge operation transmission device 154, and the operation is transmitted to the rod portion 348. Thereby, the discharge gate member 340 moves to a position where the discharge passage 316 is opened, and the flow of the game ball into the discharge passage 316 is allowed. In this state, the protruding portion 355 of the discharge gate member 340 protrudes outward from the capture device 303, and accordingly, the protruding portion 355 is detected by the discharge gate detection sensor 356. The discharge gate detection sensor 356 constitutes a discharge operation detection means for detecting the operation state (operation position) of the discharge gate member 340.

  A detection signal from the discharge gate detection sensor 356 is output to a main controller 505 described later. In this case, the main controller 505 detects the open / close state of the discharge passage 316 based on the detection signal of the discharge gate detection sensor 356. Processing such as prohibiting the operation of the insertion gate member 320 is performed. By prohibiting the taking-in operation of the game ball when the discharge passage 316 is opened, inconveniences such as an unstable take-in state of the game ball and a decrease in detection accuracy of the taken game ball are eliminated. .

  As shown in FIGS. 38 and 39, the take-in device 303 is provided with a sensor unit 370 that detects the passage of the game ball in the take-in passage 315. This sensor unit 370 constitutes a game ball counting means for counting the number of game balls passing through the take-in passage 315, and includes a known optical sensor composed of a light emitting element and a light receiving element.

  The sensor unit 370 has a substantially U-shape and is assembled so as to straddle the first and second housings 311 and 312. Specifically, the sensor unit 370 includes a sensor body 371 extending in the thickness direction of the take-in device 303, and both ends of the sensor body 371 along the outer wall surfaces of the housings 311 and 312 toward the take-in passage 315. And extending arm portions 372 and 373. A sensor circuit board (not shown) is accommodated in the sensor body 371, and a connector hole 371a for exposing a connector terminal 374 provided on the sensor circuit board to the outside is provided on the back surface of the sensor body 371. Is formed.

  A light emitting element is accommodated in one of the arm portions 372 and 373, and a light receiving element is accommodated in the other. In addition, a pair of upper and lower sensor detection holes 376 are formed at the distal ends of the arm portions 372 and 373 at portions that are inside each other. In this case, two light emitting elements and two light receiving elements are accommodated in the arm portions 372 and 373, respectively, and each of these elements emits and receives light through the sensor detection hole 376. A pair of upper and lower through holes 378 are formed in the first and second housings 311 and 312. When the sensor unit 370 is assembled to each housing 311 and 312 in the housing joined state, each arm portion 372. , 373 are arranged such that the position of the sensor detection hole 376 provided at the front end portion of the housing 311 matches the position of the through hole 378 of each housing 311, 312.

  As shown in FIG. 38, the through hole 378 is provided in the intake passage 315 at a position slightly offset from the center inside the housing. The position of the through hole 378 is a game ball detection position by the sensor unit 370. In this case, in particular, the through hole 378 is provided at a position directly below the claw portion 320a formed at the distal end portion of the intake gate member 320 (a right offset position of the intake passage 315 in FIG. 38). A game ball is not detected by the sensor unit 370 unless the claw portion 320a of 320 moves to the immersive side. If it is assumed that the through hole 378 is provided on the opposite side of the intake passage 315 (the left offset position of the intake passage 315 in FIG. 38), the claw portion 320a of the intake gate member 320 is in the protruding position. In order to prevent erroneous detection of the game ball in the state (including erroneous detection of the game ball when discharging the game ball through the discharge passage 316), it is necessary to lower the position of the through hole 378 below the illustrated position. According to the above configuration of the gaming machine 1, the through hole 378 can be disposed in the vicinity of the claw portion 320 a of the take-in gate member 320. Therefore, it is possible to quickly detect a game ball that flows down due to the opening of the intake gate member 320.

  When a game ball is taken in with the take-in gate member 320 opened, in the upper and lower sensor elements (light emitting element + light receiving element) in the sensor unit 370, the game ball is first detected by the upstream sensor element, Thereafter, the game ball is detected by the sensor element on the downstream side. Detection signals from these sensor elements are sequentially output to a main controller 505 described later that manages the taking-in of game balls. In this case, main controller 505 determines whether or not a game ball has been normally taken in based on a game ball detection signal from each sensor element. Specifically, it is determined that the game ball has been normally taken in only when the game ball is detected in the order of the upstream sensor element → the downstream sensor element within a predetermined specified time. The

  If the required time from the detection of the game ball by the upstream sensor element to the detection of the game ball by the downstream sensor element is longer than the specified time, or contrary to normal, the downstream sensor element → the upstream sensor When the game balls are detected in the order of the elements, it is regarded as abnormal, the fact is notified, and the subsequent games are stopped. Therefore, for example, by attaching a string or the like to a game ball or other dummy object to be moved up and down, it is possible to prevent cheating as if a plurality of game balls were taken in.

  As described above, in the sensor unit 370, one of the arm portions 372 and 373 is a light emitting portion and the other is a light receiving portion, and the light emitting portion and the light receiving portion are provided integrally. Thereby, the alignment precision of a light emitting element and a light receiving element can be raised, and the detection precision of a game ball can be made favorable. In addition, a sensor circuit board is provided in the sensor main body 371 that connects the arm parts 372 and 373, and the connector terminal 374 provided on the sensor circuit board enables electrical connection to an external board. In addition, the signal lines connected to the light receiving element can be integrated and integrated, and the wiring can be easily connected to the external substrate.

  Here, as described above, the inlet passage 307 is opened upward by removing the upper wall. However, as shown in FIG. 38, the passage wall on the discharge passage 316 side extends slightly toward the inlet passage 307, and the extending wall 318 covers the upper part of the through hole 378. Thereby, in the configuration in which the entrance passage 307 is opened upward, it is possible to prevent light from the inside of a game hall where a large number of gaming machines 1 are installed, light from a fluorescent tube 554, which will be described later, or the like from entering the intake passage 315. ing. This is because if the light enters the take-in passage 315, the light receiving element of the sensor unit 370 senses the light, and the game ball may not be detected accurately. Further, as shown in FIG. 34A and the like, the extension wall 318 is in contact with the second cover member 158 attached to the upper plate 151, and together with the bottom wall portion 246 of the second cover member 158, It constitutes the upper wall of the inlet passages 305 to 307.

  At the most downstream portion of the intake passage 315, a downstream intake sensor 380 is provided for detecting the game ball that has passed through the intake gate member 320 by the sensor unit 370 and then detecting the game ball again. . This downstream side intake sensor 380 is configured by a magnetic detection type proximity sensor, and detects the passage of the game ball by the change of the magnetic field accompanying the passage of the game ball. That is, the plate-shaped sensor main body 381 is provided with a through hole 381a, and the sensor main body 381 detects a change in magnetic field when a game ball passes through the through hole 381a and outputs it as an electrical signal. The through hole 381 a has a substantially perfect circle shape, and its diameter substantially matches the width dimension of the intake passage 315. A connector terminal 382 is provided on the sensor main body 381.

  Similar to the detection signal of the sensor unit 370, the detection signal from the downstream intake sensor 380 is output to the main controller 505 described later. In this case, the main controller 505 detects the current game ball uptake detection result (result of uptake determination by the sensor unit 370) based on the detection signal of the sensor unit 370 and the detection signal of the downstream uptake sensor 380. Is determined to be legitimate, i.e., not fraudulent. Specifically, the ball game ball count number by the sensor unit 370 (for example, the game ball count number by the detection result of one sensor element) is compared with the game ball count number by the downstream side intake sensor 380, and each count When the numbers match, it is determined that the detection result of the current game ball uptake (result of the uptake determination by the sensor unit 370) is normal. On the other hand, when the count numbers do not match, it is determined that the detection result of the current game ball capture (the result of the capture determination by the sensor unit 370) is not a regular one but is due to an illegal act. .

  As a fraudulent act with respect to the take-in unit 16, it is conceivable to attach a fraudulent device that emits light so as to cause the sensor unit 370 to erroneously detect the passage of a game ball. For example, a fraudulent device comprising two light emitters that blinks regardless of actual game ball take-in is attached to the take-in unit 16, and these light emitters are blinked in a predetermined order to play game balls. Make sure that the passage is falsely detected. When such an illegal act is performed, it is difficult to avoid erroneous detection of the game ball due to the illegal act only by the detection of the game ball by the sensor unit 370. In this regard, it is possible to avoid erroneous detection of a game ball due to fraudulent action by fraud confirmation based on the detection signal of the downstream intake sensor 380 as described above.

  Since two sensor devices (sensor unit 370 and downstream side intake sensor 380) having different detection methods are provided in the intake passage 315, it is difficult to erroneously detect a game ball in any of the sensor devices. It will be something. Therefore, countermeasures against fraud in the capture unit 16 are desirable.

  Each component of the intake device 303 described above (excluding the discharge gate member 340, the intake gate member 320, the gate drive mechanism including the solenoid 325, the sensor unit 370, etc.) is a corner between the inlet passage 307 and the intake passage 315. It is arranged in a concentrated manner in the inner region of the part. Thereby, each structural member can be efficiently arrange | positioned in the limited area | region, As a result, size reduction (including thickness reduction) of the capture device 303 can be implement | achieved.

  In the main take-in unit 16 in which the take-in devices 301 to 303 having the above-described configuration are provided in triplicate, game balls are supplied from the guide passages 171 to 173 of the upper plate 151 to the take-in devices 301 to 303, respectively. In accordance with the operation of the front bet switch 37, the respective take-in devices 301 to 303 take in the game balls. Specifically, for example, when 15 (maximum bet) game balls are taken in, the take-in gate member 320 is simultaneously operated to the open position in all the take-in devices 301 to 303, and the take-in of game balls is performed all at once. To begin. At this time, each of the take-in devices 301 to 303 takes in five game balls.

  However, if any of the three capture devices 301 to 303 is not filled with a game ball, or if any of the capture devices does not operate normally due to a malfunction of the solenoid 325, etc. The game balls are taken in by the remaining take-in devices that can perform normal take-in operations. For example, when the first take-in device 301 is not filled with a game ball or when the solenoid 325 of the take-in device 301 is out of order, the take-in devices other than the first take-in device 301 (second, second, 15 game balls are taken in by the 3 take-in devices 302 and 303).

  On the other hand, when the game balls remaining on the take-in devices 301 to 303 and the upper plate 151 are discharged to the lower plate 71, the discharge gate member 340 is operated in accordance with the operation of the operation lever 198 on the front side of the gaming machine, and each take-off is performed. The game balls are discharged all at once by the insertion devices 301 to 303.

(Explanation of the replacement block 5)
Next, the surface changing block 5 will be described. FIG. 43 is a perspective view of the surface replacement block 5 as seen from diagonally forward, FIG. 44 is a perspective view of the surface replacement block 5 as viewed from diagonally rear, and FIG. 45 is a front view of the surface replacement block 5. 46 and 47 are exploded perspective views of the surface changing block 5. FIG.

  The main part of the surface changing block 5 is a synthetic resin front frame 501, a reel device 503 as a symbol display device, a liquid crystal display device 504 as an auxiliary effect device, and a main control unit that performs various main controls relating to the game. A control device 505, a display control device 506 for performing subordinate display control based on a command from the main control device 505, a pedestal base 507 for the main control device for mounting the main control device 505, and a display control device 506 And a display control device base base 508. In the present embodiment, the face change block 5 is configured to include all the main parts that determine the game content of the gaming machine 1, and this face change block is used when changing the model in a game hall or the like. The model can be changed by replacing 5 with the new model. That is, the surface changing block 5 is an exchange unit at the time of model change.

(Description of front frame 501)
Details of the front frame 501 will be described with reference to FIG. 48A is a perspective view of the front frame 501 viewed from the front, and FIG. 48B is a perspective view of the front frame 501 viewed from the rear.

  The front frame 501 is formed of a colored (for example, black) light-shielding material and has a substantially square shape when viewed from the front. The portion of the front frame 501 that is edged in a substantially trapezoidal shape has a shape and size that substantially match the viewing window 21 of the front door body 11. In this case, in a state where the surface changing block 5 is attached to the door block 4, almost the entire front frame 501 is visible from the viewing window 21 of the front door body 11.

  A display window 511 having a horizontally long rectangular shape is provided on the front surface of the front frame 501, and a display window 512 having a horizontally long rectangular shape is also provided above the display window 511. In the following description, the lower display window 511 is referred to as “lower display window 511”, and the upper display window 512 is referred to as “upper display window 512”. The lower display window 511 corresponds to a reel symbol display unit for displaying the reel symbol attached to the outer periphery of the reel device 503, and the upper display window 512 is a liquid crystal for displaying a display image by the liquid crystal display device 504. It corresponds to an image display unit.

  Each of the display windows 511 and 512 is provided at a substantially central portion in the left-right direction on the front surface portion of the front frame 501 and has substantially the same horizontal dimension (the height dimension is slightly larger in the upper display window 512). However, the size (absolute size) of each display window 511, 512, the relative size when comparing each display window 511, 512, and the shape of each display window 511, 512 can be arbitrarily changed. For example, the upper display window 512 may be more horizontally long, or the upper display window 512 may be smaller than the lower display window 511. In the front portion of the front frame 501, the peripheral portions of the display windows 511 and 512 are substantially flat surfaces.

  A protruding portion 513 is provided on the peripheral edge of the lower display window 511 so as to protrude forward. When the reel device 503 is attached to the back side of the front frame 501, a part of the reel device 503 protrudes forward from the front surface portion (flat portion around the display window) of the front frame 501. The protruding portion of the reel device 503 is surrounded. In this case, the upper and lower overhang portions 513 can clearly divide the reel symbol range that is visible / invisible (or difficult to view) from the outside at the front protruding portion of the reel device 503. Further, according to the left and right overhang portions 513, it is possible to suppress the inside of the reel device 503 from being seen from the outside.

  In a state in which the face changing block 5 is mounted on the door block 4, the peripheral portion (A portion in FIG. 48) of the front frame 501 contacts the panel support member 14 (see FIG. 7) of the door block 4. At this time, in the front frame 501, the peripheral portion (portion A in FIG. 48) and the other central portion are substantially flush. Therefore, a gap is formed between the central portion of the front frame 501 and the transparent panel 22 in the mounted state.

  In the gaming machine 1, when the front frame 501 is viewed through the viewing window 21 (transparent panel 13) of the door block 4, a wide area including the display windows 511 and 512 can be viewed. Therefore, if various information (model information, dividend table, etc.) and decorations related to the gaming machine 1 are given to the front area of the front frame 501, the various information and decorations can be played through the visual window 21 (transparent panel 13). Visible from the front of the machine. In this case, as described above, the portions other than the display windows 511 and 512 in the front surface portion of the front frame 501 are generally flat surfaces, and therefore it is possible to affix a seal or the like to which various information or the like is applied to the front region. .

  As shown in FIG. 45, an information display substrate 514 is provided on the right side of the lower display window 511 of the front frame 501. On this information display board 514, the number of acquired balls displayed when the small role is established, and the number of games for displaying, for example, the number of remaining games in a special game state such as a big bonus or a regular bonus A display unit is provided. These display units are composed of a 7-segment display, but it is naturally possible to replace them with a liquid crystal display or the like.

  A horizontally long lower panel 516 is provided below the lower display window 511 on the front side of the front frame 501. The lower panel portion 516 is a portion that is visible from the front of the gaming machine through the horizontally long window portion 50 provided in the front door body 11. Here, the configuration of the lower panel portion 516 will be described with reference to FIGS. 24 and 49. FIG. 49 is a view for explaining the positional relationship among the lower panel portion 516, the upper plate 151, and the take-in unit 16.

  The lower panel portion 516 includes a base portion 550 that opens forward and has a hollow inside, and a panel 559 that covers the opening 551 of the base portion 550. As shown in FIG. 24, a pair of upper and lower rail portions 552 and 553 are integrally formed on the base portion 550 on the opening portion 551 side. The rail groove widths of the rail portions 552 and 553 are substantially the same as the thickness dimension of the panel 559, and the panel 559 is supported by the base portion 550 by fitting the upper and lower ends of the panel 559 to the rail portions 552 and 553. ing. The rail portions 552 and 553 are opened toward the left side as viewed in the state of FIG. 49, and the panel 559 is attached and detached by sliding from the open side. Incidentally, the opening direction of the rail portions 552 and 553 is arbitrary, and a configuration in which the rail portions 552 and 553 are opened toward the right side when viewed in the state of FIG. 49 may be employed.

  The panel 559 is formed of a synthetic resin material having transparency such as an acrylic resin or a polycarbonate resin. Game information related to the gaming machine 1 is given to the back side of the panel 559. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 50, a payout table relating to payout of prize balls is given. Note that what is given to the back side of the panel 559 is not limited to the payout table, and for example, a decoration such as a character corresponding to a game model may be given.

  The base portion 550 is provided with a fluorescent tube 554 that illuminates the panel 559 from the back side thereof. Specifically, the fluorescent tube 554 has a length in the longitudinal direction slightly shorter than the length in the left-right direction of the base portion 550, and is supported by support portions 555 formed on the left and right ends of the base portion 550, respectively. ing. In this case, the fluorescent tube 554 is located near the lower wall portion 557 in the base portion 550. While the power of the gaming machine 1 is on, the fluorescent lamp 554 is always supplied with driving power via the display control device 506, and emits white light. The white light from the fluorescent tube 554 functions as a backlight for the payout table, and is visually recognized by the player through the panel 559 and the horizontally long window portion 50. Thereby, the payout table is brightly illuminated from the back side, and the visibility is improved. Further, a decoration effect can be given to the payout table.

  As shown in FIG. 24, the fluorescent tube 554 is located above the back area A2 of the upper plate 151. In addition, a laterally long through hole 558 extending along the longitudinal direction of the fluorescent tube 554 is formed in the lower wall portion 557 of the base portion 550 at a position below the fluorescent tube 554. Further, as described above, the first cover member 157 and the second cover member 158 that cover the upper side of the back region A2 of the upper plate 151 have transparency. Therefore, the light from the fluorescent tube 554 passes through the first and second cover members 157 and 158 and illuminates the back side region A2 of the upper plate 151. Thereby, the back side area A2 of the upper plate 151 comes to be brightly illuminated, and the game balls existing in the area can be easily confirmed. In this case, both ends of the fluorescent tube 554 are located outside the left and right ends of the guide passages 171 to 173, and the entire guide passages 171 to 173 are illuminated by the light from the fluorescent tube 554.

  As shown in FIG. 49, the lower region X of the fluorescent tube 554 includes not only the upper plate 151 but also the upper plate end portion side of the take-in unit 16. And the entrance channel | paths 305-307 are formed in the said upper plate | board edge part side as mentioned above. Therefore, not only the back side area A2 of the upper plate 151 but also the entrance passages 305 to 307 of the take-in unit 16 are brightly illuminated by the light from the fluorescent tube 554, and the game balls existing in the entrance passages 305 to 307 are confirmed. It can be done easily.

  The lower wall portion 557 of the base portion 550 has a shape along the upper surfaces of the first cover member 157 and the second cover member 158 of the upper plate unit 15. More specifically, the lower wall portion 557 is formed so as to be inclined upward from an intermediate position in the front-rear direction toward the front end portion (see FIG. 24). In a state where the surface changing block 5 and the payout block 6 are fixed to the door block 4, the lower wall portion 557 is placed on the first and second cover members 157 and 158, and the weight of the surface changing block 5. Is received by the first and second cover members 157 and 158. In this case, as described above, the lower wall portion 557 is formed so as to be inclined upward from the midway position in the front-rear direction toward the front side end portion, so that the front side end portion of the lower wall portion 557 is the first side. The cover member 157 is located at a height away from the rear end portion of the cover member 157 and the rear end portion of the second cover member 158. Therefore, when the surface changing block 5 is rotated to the closed position with respect to the door block 4, the upward inclined portion of the lower wall portion 557 is the rear end portion of the first cover member 157 and the rear side of the second cover member 158. It functions as a sliding portion with respect to the end portion, and the surface changing block 5 is easily placed on the first cover member 157 and the second cover member 158.

  A pair of upper and lower operation switches 518 and 519 are provided on the right side of the lower panel portion 516. The operation switches 518 and 519 are, for example, push button type switch members used for the operation of the information menu. By pressing the operation switches 518 and 519, the number of jackpots, the total number of games, the probability of jackpot occurrence, the number of balls played (throwing in) Various information such as the difference between the number of game balls and the number of payout game balls) is appropriately displayed on the liquid crystal display device 504 or the like. The information menu includes a description of a special game in the gaming machine 1 and the like.

  On the other hand, on the back side of the front frame 501, a length for attaching the reel device 503 to the opening edge between the upper and lower display windows 511 and 512 and the lower opening edge of the lower display window 511, respectively. Scale-shaped reel mounting brackets 521 and 522 are provided.

  A support metal fitting 524 is attached to the right side portion of the front frame 501 on the back side. The support metal fitting 524 is provided with a pair of upper and lower support shafts 525 and 526. The support shafts 525 and 526 of the support fitting 524 constitute support means for rotatably supporting the surface changing block 5 on the door block 4. The support shafts 525 and 526 are provided on the door block 4. The shaft fittings 111 and 112 are inserted into the shaft holes (see FIG. 11 and the like) of the bearing portions 111b and 112a. The bearing portions 111b and 112a on the door block 4 side and the support shafts 525 and 526 on the surface changing block 5 correspond to the “support means M11 and M12 for the surface changing block 5” shown in FIG.

  Similarly, a pedestal base mounting means for mounting a pedestal base 507 for the main controller is provided on the left side of the front frame 501 on the left side. In this case, the main controller pedestal base 507 (main controller 505) is vertically mounted on the left side of the rear surface of the front frame 501, and serves as a pedestal base mounting means. A substantially U-shaped support fitting 527 for supporting the lower end portion of 507 and a fastener 528 for supporting the upper end portion of the main control device 505 are provided.

  Further, on the back side of the front frame 501, coupling hook members 531 and 532 for coupling with the payout block 6 attached to the back side of the surface changing block 5 are provided at the upper left corner and the lower left corner. Yes. The coupling hook members 531 and 532 are provided on the rotational tip side opposite to the rotational axis of the main surface changing block 5, and the surface changing block 5 and the payout block 6 are operated by being operated to the coupling position. The combined state of is maintained. Further, when the coupling hook members 531 and 532 are operated to the coupling release position, the coupling of the chamfering block 5 and the payout block 6 is released, and the chamfering block 5 can be rotated so as to be separated from the payout block 6. It is supposed to be.

(Description of reel device 503)
FIG. 51 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the reel device 503. The reel device 503 includes a metal case member 540 and three reels 541, 542, and 543 on the left, middle, and right that are accommodated in the case member 540. The case member 540 has three reels 541 to 543 rotatably accommodated therein, and a part of the reels 541 to 543 appears forward. In the case member 540, a support fixing portion 545 formed by bending upward is provided at the front end portion of the upper surface portion, and a support fixing portion 546 formed by bending downward is provided at the front end portion of the lower surface portion. It has been. These support fixing portions 545 and 546 constitute attachment means for attaching the reel device 503 to the front frame 501, and the reel device 503 is supported and fixed to the reel mounting brackets 521 and 522 provided on the front frame 501. The reel device 503 is mounted on the back side of the front frame 501 by fixing the portions 545 and 546 with screws or the like.

  The upper support fixing portion 545 has a shape having protrusions 545a at both left and right end portions. Both the protrusions 545a are formed by cutting out the central portion of the support fixing portion 545, and the liquid crystal display device 504 is attached to and detached from the front frame 501 by reducing the height of the central portion. Interference at the time can be avoided.

  On the upper part of the case member 540, a reel relay board 548 is provided for electrical connection between the reel device 503 and a control system such as the main controller 505.

  Since the configuration of each of the reels 541 to 543 is well known, detailed illustration is omitted here, and the configuration will be briefly described. Each of the reels 541 to 543 includes a cylindrical skeleton member that forms a cylindrical cage, and a belt-like belt wound around the outer periphery thereof. On the outer peripheral surface of the belt, a number of symbols as identification information are printed at equal intervals (for example, 21 symbols). A stepping motor as a drive source is provided at the center of each of the reels 541 to 543, and the reels 541 to 543 are driven to rotate individually, that is, independently, by driving the stepping motor. The reel device 503 is provided with a reel index sensor (rotational position detection sensor) for detecting the rotational position of each of the reels 541 to 543 as another configuration. Further, a backlight (rear light emitting means) made of a fluorescent lamp or the like is provided on the inner peripheral side of each reel 541 to 543, and each symbol attached to the outer peripheral surface of the reel is brighter than the rear by this backlight. Illuminated. By the light emission of the backlight, it is possible to improve the visibility of each symbol attached to the outer peripheral surface of the reel and to diversify the auxiliary effects in the game.

(Description of main controller 505, etc.)
Next, the configuration of the main controller 505, the display controller 506, etc. will be described with reference to FIG.

  The main controller 505 includes a main control board 561 on which electronic components such as a CPU and a memory are mounted, and a substantially rectangular parallelepiped case member (the front case 562 and the back case 563) for housing the main control board 561. It is configured. The front case 562 and the back case 563 are formed of a transparent synthetic resin material, and the main control board 561 inside thereof can be visually recognized by the transparent front case 562 and the back case 563.

  The main controller pedestal base 507 is a pedestal member on which the main controller 505 is slidably mounted in one direction. In this embodiment, the main controller 505 is slid upward with respect to the pedestal base 507. The main controller 505 can be detached from the pedestal base 507.

  Near the lower corner portion of the main controller base base 507, a supported portion 507a that is rotatably supported by a support fitting 527 provided on the front frame 501 is provided. In this case, when the supported portion 507a is supported by the support fitting 527, the main controller base base 507 (main control device 505) can be rotated with respect to the front frame 501 with the supported portion 507a as a fulcrum ( In other words, it can tilt backward).

  The front case 562, the back case 563, and the main controller base base 507 are provided with sealing portions f1, f2, and f3 (so-called caulking portions) as sealing means for connecting these members. The sealing parts f1 to f3 are capable of opening the case member due to breakage and the like, and the member that has been broken remains as the opening history after opening, so the opening fact can be confirmed by the opening history It has become. Thereby, in the case where the case member is illegally opened, for example, it is possible to find an illegal act by checking the sealing portions f1 to f3.

  On the other hand, the display control device 506 includes a display control board 571 on which electronic components such as a CPU and a memory are mounted, and a substantially rectangular parallelepiped case member (a front case 572 and a back case 573) for housing the display control board 571. It consists of and. The front case 572 and the back case 573 are formed of a transparent synthetic resin material, and the display control board 571 inside thereof can be visually recognized by the transparent front case 572 and the back case 573. The back case 573 is provided with a triangular leg 573a. The display control device 506 is attached to the back surface of the front frame 501 while being fixed on the display control device base 508. At this time, the display control device 506 is attached in an inclined state by the leg portion 573a provided in the back case 573. An external terminal board 575 is attached to the display control device base 508.

  In the above configuration, the electronic component mounting surface of the main control board 561 is arranged to face outward in the main control device 505, and the electronic component mounting surface of the display control board 571 in the display control device 506 is obliquely upward on the rear side. It is arranged to face. Such an arrangement facilitates fraud confirmation with respect to the main control board 561 and the display control board 571.

  The liquid crystal display device 504 includes a liquid crystal panel 581 and a liquid crystal driver 582 that drives the liquid crystal panel 581.

(Explanation of completed state as reshuffling block 5)
The completed state of the surface changing block 5 will be described again with reference to FIGS. As the face change block 5, a reel device 503 is attached to the back side of the front frame 501, and a liquid crystal display device 504 is attached above the reel device 503. A main control device 505 is attached to the side of the reel device 503, and a display control device 506 is attached above the reel device 503 via a base base 507.

  The entire panel surface of the liquid crystal panel 581 can be visually recognized from the upper display window 512 of the front frame 501 on the front side of the face change block 5. In addition, a part of each reel 541 to 543 of the reel device 503 can be seen from the lower display window 511 of the front frame 501. At this time, out of many symbols (21 in this embodiment) attached to the outer circumference of each of the reels 541 to 543, three symbols for each reel can be visually recognized through the lower display window 511. Yes.

(Description of payout block 6)
Next, the payout block 6 will be described. 52 and 53 are perspective views of the payout block 6, FIG. 54 is a rear view of the payout block 6, FIG. 55 is a perspective view showing the payout device 618 separated from the payout block 6, and FIG. FIG. 57 is a rear view showing a state in which the control devices are removed from the payout block 6. In FIG. 57, the game ball passage formed in the payout block 6 is indicated by a dotted line.

  The payout block 6 includes a back cover member 601 integrally formed of a synthetic resin material, a payout mechanism 602 for paying out game balls, a payout control device 603 that controls payout control, and a power supply voltage generated from an external power supply. It has a power supply device 604 that supplies various control devices and actuators, and is configured by integrating them.

  The back cover member 601 includes a base portion 611 having a substantially flat shape, and a protective cover portion 612 having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape protruding rearward (rearward of the gaming machine 1). The protective cover portion 612 has a shape in which the left and right surfaces and the upper and lower surfaces and the rear surface are closed, and is large enough to accommodate at least the reel device 503, the main control device 505, and the display control device 506 of the surface changing block 5. Have Although illustration is omitted, a large number of air holes can be provided on the back surface of the protective cover portion 604. The base portion 611 and the protective cover portion 612 may be integrally formed as described above, or may be formed separately and integrated with screws or the like.

  The payout mechanism 602 is attached to the base portion 611 of the back cover member 601 so as to bypass the protective cover portion 612. That is, as the payout mechanism 602, a tank 615 opened upward is provided at the uppermost portion of the back cover member 601, and the game balls supplied from the island facilities of the game hall are sequentially replenished to the tank 615. Below the tank 615, for example, tank rails 616 that have four rows (four strips) of ball paths in the front-rear direction and are gently inclined toward the downstream side are connected. The tank rail 616 extends in the vertical direction downstream of the tank rail 616. Case rails 617 are connected.

  A payout device 618 for paying out game balls is provided at the most downstream portion of the case rail 617. As shown in FIG. 57, the payout device 618 includes a payout motor 619 and a payout gate member 620 driven by the payout motor 619, and the payout motor 619 is driven by a control signal from the payout control device 603. Then, with the driving of the payout motor 619, the payout gate member 620 moves to the passage opening position. Thereby, the required number of game balls are paid out as appropriate.

  The payout device 618 has a game ball discharge function for discharging game balls staying on the case rail 617 and the like to the outside in addition to a game ball payout function performed in accordance with winnings during a game. When the game ball is discharged, the passage switching lever 621 is switched from the payout execution position to the discharge execution position, and the payout motor 619 is driven to discharge the game ball to the outside.

  As with the tank rail 616, the case rails 617 are provided in four rows in the front-rear direction, and the payout devices 618 are provided in four rows accordingly. In this case, as shown in FIG. 55, the base plate 611 of the back cover member 601 is provided with a metal plate 625 in an overlapping manner, and two metal boss members so as to stand on the metal plate 625. 626 is provided. In FIG. 53, reference numeral 627 denotes a metal plate for fixing the base end portion of the boss member 626. That is, the base end of the boss member 626 is firmly fixed by the two front and back metal plates 625 and 627. Then, with the boss member 626 inserted, four rows of payout devices 618 are fixed together.

  On the downstream side of the payout device 618, a passage forming member 630 for forming four rows of game ball passages is also provided. The passage forming member 630 has a payout passage 631 and a discharge passage 632 therein, and the game balls are paid out to the upper plate 151 and the like by passing through the payout passage 631. In addition, the game ball is discharged outside by passing through the discharge passage 632. The passage forming member 630 is fixed by two support members 633 provided on the metal plate 625.

  The passage forming member 630 is provided with a payout relay board 635 that relays a payout command signal from the payout control device 603 to the payout device 618. Although not shown, a tank ball absence sensor for detecting the presence or absence of a game ball supplied from the tank 615 or the tank rail 616 is provided upstream of the case rail 617. Also, the payout device 618 is provided with a payout rotation sensor that detects the rotation of the payout motor 619 and a payout count switch that counts the number of game balls to be paid out.

  Both the tank and the passage members in the dispensing mechanism 602 are formed of a conductive synthetic resin material such as a conductive polycarbonate resin, and are grounded at a part thereof. Thereby, generation | occurrence | production of the noise by charging of a game ball is suppressed.

  A game ball distribution unit 640 for distributing game balls flowing down from the payout mechanism 602 is provided on the downstream side of the passage forming member 630 in the base unit 611. As shown in FIG. 55, the game ball distribution unit 640 is provided with three passage openings 641, 642, 643, of which the passage opening 641 communicates with the upper plate 151, and the passage opening 642 has The passage opening 643 communicates with the lower plate 71 and is configured to communicate with a game ball discharge unit connected to the outside of the gaming machine.

  Here, the game ball passage on the downstream side of the game ball distribution unit 640 will be described with reference to FIG. In the back cover member 601, an upper plate guide passage 651 communicating with the passage opening 641 of the game ball distribution portion 640 is provided below the protective cover portion 612. The upper plate guide passage 651 is open on the front side of the back cover member 601, and when the dispensing block 6 is mounted on the door block 4, the front-side opening of the upper plate guide passage 651 is disposed on the upper plate unit 15. It is configured to communicate with the outlet 163 (see FIG. 7 and the like).

  The back cover member 601 has a lower plate guide passage 652 communicating with the passage opening 642 of the game ball distribution unit 640 and an external discharge passage 653 communicating with the passage opening 643 of the game ball distribution unit 640 in parallel. Is provided. The lower plate guide passage 652 is opened to the front side of the back cover member 601, and when the dispensing block 6 is attached to the door block 4, the front side opening of the lower plate guide passage 652 is connected to the lower plate of the inner frame 12. It is the structure which communicates with the channel | path 145 (refer FIG. 7 etc.). In addition, the code | symbol 655 in a figure is a lower tray full tank switch for detecting when the lower ball | bowl 71 becomes full and the game ball overflows to the upstream side.

  In this case, the game balls that have flowed down the payout passage 631 of the passage forming member 630 basically flow into the passage opening 641 as they are, and then are discharged to the upper plate 151 through the upper plate guide passage 651. However, when the game balls that have become surplus as the upper plate 151 becomes full are overflowing through the upper plate guide passage 651, the excess game balls flow into the passage opening 642, and then the lower plate guide passage It is discharged to the lower plate 71 through 652. The game balls that have flowed down the discharge passage 632 of the passage forming member 630 are discharged to the outside of the gaming machine (island facility of the game hall) through the external discharge passage 653.

  When the payout block 6 is attached to the door block 4, the payout block 6 surrounds the back and the periphery of the take-in unit 16 provided in the door block 4. In this case, in particular, the base portion 611 of the back cover member 601 is provided with a lever insertion hole 657 that matches the shape of the operation lever 213 of the ball retaining device 155, and the lever insertion hole 657 has an operation of the ball retaining device 155. A lever 213 is inserted. The lever insertion hole 657 has a shape and a size that allow the operation lever 213 to be inserted only when the operation lever 213 is in the take-in unit holding position (the hold plate piece 224 is in contact with the back surface of the take-in unit 16). If the operation lever 213 is in the take-in unit removal position (the hold plate piece 224 is not in contact with the back surface of the take-in unit 16), the payout block with respect to the door block 4 is provided. 6, the operation lever 213 cannot be inserted into the lever insertion hole 657, so that it cannot be mounted.

  Accordingly, it is possible to avoid a work mistake such as forgetting to operate the operation lever 213 of the ball retainer 155 to the take-in unit holding position after attaching the take-in unit 16 to the door block 4. it can. Further, at this time, the operation lever 213 is surely operated to the take-in unit holding position, so that the flow of the game ball from the upper plate 151 to the take-in unit 16 is unexpectedly obstructed during the game. Can be avoided.

  A support fitting 661 is attached to the left end portion of the back cover member 601 when viewed from the inner surface side (front side). The support metal fitting 661 is provided with a pair of upper and lower support shafts 662 and 663. A support fitting 665 having a support shaft 666 is attached below the support fitting 661. The support shafts 662, 663, 666 of these support fittings 661, 665 constitute support means for rotatably supporting the payout block 6 on the door block 4, and these support shafts 662, 663, 666. Is inserted into the shaft holes (see FIG. 7 and the like) of the bearing portions 111a, 112b, and 113b of the shaft fittings 111, 112, and 113 provided in the door block 4. The bearing portions 111a, 112b, 113b on the door block 4 side and the support shafts 662, 663, 666 on the payout block 6 side correspond to the “support means M21 to M23 for the payout block 6” shown in FIG.

  On the inner surface side of the back cover member 601, metal locking pieces 671, 672 that are locked by two coupling hook members 531, 532 provided on the surface changing block 5 at the upper and lower portions of the protective cover portion 612. Is attached. By operating the coupling hook members 531 and 532 of the surface changing block 5 to the locking position in a state where the surface changing block 5 and the payout block 6 are overlapped, the blocks 5 and 6 are connected to each other. , 532 are operated to the unlocking position so that both blocks 5 and 6 can be separated.

  In this case, the operation of the coupling hook members 531 and 532 can be performed only on the front side of the back cover member 601 of the dispensing block 6, and if the front side of the dispensing block 6 is not opened, the engagement of the coupling hook members 531 and 532 is possible. Stop release operation is impossible. In other words, in a state where the integrated body of the surface changing block 5 and the payout block 6 is attached to the door block 4 (the state shown in FIG. 3), the coupling hook members 531 and 532 are hidden inside, and the coupling hook members 531 and 532 The opening operation of the surface changing block 5 and the payout block 6 by manual operation is impossible.

  Similarly, on the inner surface side of the back cover member 601, the locking device 120 provided on the door block 4 is provided on the opposite side of the support fitting 661 and above and below the protective cover portion 612. Metal locking pieces 673 and 674 to be locked to the metal fittings 133 and 134 are attached. In a state where the dispensing block 6 is closed with respect to the door block 4, the locking pieces 673 and 674 are locked by the metal fittings 133 and 134 of the locking device 120, and the dispensing block 6 cannot be opened. When the metal fittings 133 and 134 are moved to the unlocking position in accordance with the unlocking operation by the operation key, the locking of the locking pieces 673 and 674 is released, and the payout block 6 can be opened.

  In particular, the protective cover portion 612 is provided with shielding covers 675 and 676 so as to surround the locking pieces 673 and 674. The shielding covers 675 and 676 have a box shape opened only in the front, and a finger, a tool, or the like cannot be inserted from the rear. Therefore, when the dispensing block 6 is closed with respect to the door block 4 (the state shown in FIG. 3), the locking state of the locking device 120 (the locked state between the metal fittings 133 and 134 and the locking pieces 673 and 674) is obtained. Is not released illegally, and an illegal deterrent effect is obtained.

  In addition, the back cover member 601 is provided with lock members 678 and 679 for fixing the payout block 6 in a state of being attached to the door block 4. The lock members 678 and 679 are provided at positions corresponding to the metal fittings 147 and 148 (see FIG. 11) of the inner frame 12, and have locking pieces to be engaged with the metal fittings 147 and 148, respectively. ing. In this case, the payout block 6 is fixed to the door block 4 by bringing the locking pieces of the lock members 678 and 679 into the locked state with respect to the metal fittings 147 and 148. Further, after the locking by the locking device 120 is released, the payout block 6 can be removed from the door block 4 by releasing the locking state of the lock members 678 and 679.

(Description of payout control device 603 and power supply device 604)
Next, the dispensing control device 603 and the power supply device 604 attached to the back side of the back cover member 601 will be described with reference to FIG.

  The payout control device 603 includes a payout control board 681 on which electronic components such as a CPU and a memory are mounted, and a board box 682 that accommodates the payout control board 681, similarly to the main control device 505. The substrate box 682 is formed of a transparent synthetic resin material, and the dispensing control substrate 681 inside the substrate box 682 can be visually recognized by the transparent substrate box 682. The board box 682 is provided with a sealing part 683 (so-called caulking part) as sealing means for connecting the front and back side case members constituting the box 682. The sealing part 683 allows the substrate box 682 to be opened by breaking or the like, and since the member that has been broken remains as the opening history after opening, the opening history can be confirmed by the opening history. It has become. Thereby, in the case where the substrate box 682 is illegally opened, an illegal act can be found by checking the sealing part 683.

  The board box 682 of the payout control device 603 is provided with fixtures 684 and 685 made of Nylatch (registered trademark) or the like, and on the other hand, on the base portion 611 of the back cover member 601 to which the payout control device 603 is attached. Are provided with attached holes 686 and 687 (see FIG. 56). In this case, the payout control device 603 is arranged at a predetermined mounting position, and the fixtures 684 and 685 are set in a fixed operation state with respect to the attached hole portions 686 and 687, whereby the payout control device 603 for the back cover member 601 is set. Installation is complete.

  On the other hand, the power supply device 604 includes a power supply board 691 and a board box 692 that houses the power supply board 691. The board box 692 is formed of a transparent synthetic resin material, and the power board 691 inside the board box 692 can be visually recognized by the transparent board box 692. The power supply device 604 includes a power switch 694 for starting the gaming machine 1, a reset switch 695 for resetting various states of the gaming machine 1, and a hall manager and the like for adjusting the payout of the game balls to be paid out. A setting key switch 696 is provided. This gaming machine 10 has a backup function for various data, and maintains the state at the time of power failure even in the event of a power failure, and returns to the state at the time of power failure upon recovery from power failure (recovery) It can be done. In this case, for example, when the power supply is shut down by a normal procedure, such as when the game hall is closed, the state before shutting down is stored and retained. It has come to be. Further, when the reset switch 695 is pressed while the power switch 694 is turned on, the error state is reset. Further, the setting state of the gaming machine 1 is changed in multiple stages by operating the setting key switch 696 by operating the setting key by a hall manager or the like. At this time, for example, the setting is changed in six stages from “setting 1” to “setting 6”, and the winning probability is changed along with the setting change. The power supply device 604 is fixed to the base portion 611 of the back cover member 601 with screws or the like.

  In addition, the base portion 611 of the back cover member 601 is provided with a ball lending unit connection board 698 that manages payout of game balls lent out from the ball lending unit.

(Description of manufacturing process of gaming machine 1)
Next, the manufacturing process of the gaming machine 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. However, here, each process will be described focusing on the upper plate unit 15. Further, as a preparatory step, a step of molding various members such as the upper plate 151, the first cover member 157 and the second cover member 158 with a resin or the like, a door block 4, a surface changing block 5, a payout block 6 and an intake unit 16 Assume that the assembly process is completed.

  As shown in FIG. 58 (a), a first cover member 157 and a third cover member 159 are fixed to the upper plate 151 on the upper plate 151, and a lending operation device 153 and a discharge operation transmission device 154 are mounted on the lower surface. And a step of fixing the ball-clamping device 155 (note that the ball-clamping device 155 is not shown because the ball-clamping device 155 is near the back surface of the upper plate 151). In this case, the first cover member 157, the ball rental operation device 153, the discharge operation transmission device 154, and the ball fastening device 155 are screwed to the upper plate 151. On the other hand, the third cover member 159 is fixed to the upper plate 151 by the fixing hook 252 as shown in FIG.

  Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 58 (b), an arrangement step of the second cover member 158 is performed. In this case, the upper cover portion 247 of the second cover member 158 is held as a handle portion, and the guide protrusion 249 formed on the bottom wall portion 246 of the second cover member 158 is a partition portion 167 formed on the upper plate 151. , 168, the second cover member 158 is inserted into the upper plate 151 by sliding the upstream portions 167a, 168a (see FIG. 26A). Thereby, the movement of the second cover member 158 in the insertion direction is guided. Then, when the second cover member 158 is inserted, the right end surface 250 of the second cover member 158 comes into contact with the peripheral wall portion 162 of the upper plate 151 so that movement in the insertion direction is restricted. By supporting the second cover member 158 on the upper plate 151 and the first cover member 157 at the restricted position, the insertion protrusion 248 is inserted into the through hole 167a of the partition portion 167, and the guide protrusion 249 The upstream side surface 249a comes into contact with the downstream side end surface 167d of the partition portion 167, and the second cover member 158 is positioned with respect to the upper plate 151 (see FIG. 26B). That is, the arrangement work with respect to the upper plate 151 of the second cover member 158 can be easily performed.

  By disposing the second cover member 158, the flange portion 241 of the second cover member 158 is supported by both the support frame portion 238 of the first cover member 157 and the back side wall portion 166 of the upper plate 151 (FIG. 21). Etc.). In addition, the hooking portion 244 of the second cover member 158 is hooked on the hook receiving portion 166 of the upper plate 151 at the time of arrangement. Thereby, the 2nd cover member 158 is temporarily fixed with respect to the top plate 151 (refer FIG. 16). The assembly of the upper plate unit 15 is completed through the above steps.

  After the upper plate unit 15 is completed, as shown in FIG. 58 (c), a step of fixing the upper plate unit 15 to the door block 4 that has already been assembled with screws or the like is performed. At the time of fixing, the first cover member 157 is screwed to the horizontally long window portion 50 through the through hole 236 provided in the front end portion 235 of the first cover member 157. Accordingly, in the configuration in which the back side region A2 of the upper plate 151 is disposed at a position deeper than the transparent panel 13, the back side wall portion 166 and the horizontally long window portion 50 of the upper plate 151 are connected to the first cover member 157 and the second cover member 157. Connected via the cover member 158, the inside of the gaming machine 1 is prevented from being opened forward of the gaming machine between the two. Further, at the time of this fixing, as described above, since the second cover member 158 is temporarily fixed to the upper plate 151, it is possible to prevent the second cover member 158 from coming off. As described above, after the step of fixing the upper plate unit 15 to the door block 4 is performed, the step of fixing the already assembled intake unit 16 to the door block 4 is performed.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 59 (a), a process of attaching the surface changing block 5 and the dispensing block 6 that have already been assembled to the door block 4 is performed. In this case, the coupling between the surface changing block 5 and the payout block 6 is such that the engaging hook members 531 and 532 provided in the surface changing block 5 are locked to the locking pieces 671 and 672 provided in the payout block 6. By doing. The blocks 5 and 6 are attached to the door block 4 with respect to the shaft fittings 111, 112, and 113 provided on the door block 4, and the shafts 525 and 526 of the surface changing block 5 and the shaft 662 of the payout block 6. , 663, 666 is supported.

  Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 59 (b), a step of fixing the integrated body of the surface changing block 5 and the dispensing block 6 to the door block 4 is performed. That is, the locking unit 120 pays out to the door block 4 by rotating the stacking block 5 and the payout block 6 together with the door block 4 so as to be turned to the near side (turning to the closed position). Block 6 is locked. Further, the lock members 678 and 679 provided on the back cover member 601 of the payout block 6 are operated to be locked with a finger or the like. In this case, the surface changing block 5 is placed on the first cover member 157 and the second cover member 158. The second cover member 158 is fixed by being sandwiched between the surface changing block 5 and both the upper plate 151 and the first cover member 157. That is, the fixing of the second cover member 158 is completed by fixing the surface changing block 5 and the payout block 6.

  Here, the lower wall portion 557 of the front frame 501 has a height in which the front side end portion is separated upward from the back side end portion of the first cover member 157 and the back side end portion of the second cover member 158. In order to be positioned, it is inclined upward from an intermediate position in the front-rear direction toward the front end. Therefore, when the surface changing block 5 is rotated to the closed position with respect to the door block 4, the upward inclined portion of the lower wall portion 557 is the rear end portion of the first cover member 157 and the rear side of the second cover member 158. It functions as a sliding portion with respect to the end portion, and the surface changing block 5 is easily placed on the first cover member 157 and the second cover member 158. Therefore, the rotation work of the integral part of the surface changing block 5 and the payout block 6 can be easily performed.

  As described above, after the assembly of the gaming machine main part 3 is completed by fixing the integrated unit of the surface changing block 5 and the payout block 6 to the door block 4, the gaming machine main part 3 is attached to the outer frame 2. Perform the process. This attachment is performed using the hinge fitting 8. Finally, when the gaming machine main part 3 is closed with respect to the outer frame 2, the gaming machine main part 3 is locked to the outer frame 2 by the locking device 120, and the production of the gaming machine 1 is completed. In the above process, it is necessary to appropriately perform connection work such as electrical wiring between the blocks.

(Explanation of replacement work of the surface changing unit 5)
Next, the replacement work of the surface changing block 5 at the time of model change in the game hall will be described.

  First, a predetermined operation key is inserted into the key cylinder 137 of the locking device 120 and rotated in a predetermined direction (clockwise direction) to release the locked state of the door block 4 with respect to the outer frame 2. Then, the door block 4 is opened to the front side. At this time, the surface changing block 5 and the payout block 6 are integrally operated together with the door block 4. This is the state shown in FIG.

  Next, similarly, the operation key is rotated in the direction opposite to the predetermined direction (counterclockwise direction) to release the locked state of the dispensing block 6 with respect to the door block 4. Further, the lock members 678 and 679 provided on the back cover member 601 of the payout block 6 are operated to be unlocked with a finger or the like. Thereby, the integrated body of the surface changing block 5 and the payout block 6 can be rotated (opening operation is possible) with respect to the door block 4, and the integrated body of the surface changing block 5 and the payout block 6 is rotated backward. Further, when the coupling hook members 531 and 532 provided on the surface changing block 5 are operated to the coupling release position and the surface changing block 5 is rotated forward, the state shown in FIG. 4 is obtained. In this state, electrical wiring between the blocks is removed as appropriate.

  Then, in the state of FIG. 4, the surface changing block 5 is removed from the door block 4 so as to be lifted upward. At this time, the support shafts 525 and 526 provided on the surface changing block 5 side are pulled out from the bearing portions 111 b and 112 a of the shaft fittings 111 and 112 provided on the door block 4 side, and the surface changing block 5 is removed from the door block 4. To be separated.

  Thereafter, the new surface changing block 5 is mounted in the reverse operation procedure from that for removal. That is, a new surface changing block 5 is attached to the door block 4 and electrical wiring or the like is appropriately connected. Then, the coupling hook members 531 and 532 are operated to the coupling position in a state where the surface changing block 5 and the payout block 6 are overlapped, and then the integrated body of the surface changing block 5 and the payout block 6 is turned to the door block 4 side. Move them so that they overlap. At this time, the payout block 6 is locked to the door block 4. Thereafter, the lock members 678 and 679 of the payout block 6 are operated to be locked with a finger or the like. Finally, when the door block 4 is closed with respect to the outer frame 2, the replacement work of the gaming machine 1 is completed.

  When exchanging the surface changing block 5, no special tools or the like are required except for unlocking the door block 4 with an operation key, and the exchanging operation is facilitated.

(Description of maintenance work of the upper plate 151)
Next, maintenance work such as cleaning of the upper plate 151 will be described with reference to FIGS. Here, as described above, in the gaming machine 1, the back side region A2 of the upper plate 151 is disposed on the back side of the transparent panel 13, and the guide passages 171 to 173 formed in the back side region A2 are further provided. The height direction is restricted by the second cover member 158. Accordingly, the guide passages 171 to 173 are particularly difficult to maintain on the upper plate 151. Therefore, in the following description of the maintenance work, the description will be made focusing on the maintenance work of the guide passages 171 to 173.

  First, a predetermined operation key is inserted into the key cylinder 137 of the locking device 120 and rotated in a predetermined direction to release the locked state of the door block 4 with respect to the outer frame 2. Then, as shown in FIG. 60A, the gaming machine main part 3 is opened to the front side. Next, the operation key is similarly turned in the direction opposite to the predetermined direction to release the locked state of the dispensing block 6 with respect to the door block 4. Further, the lock members 678 and 679 provided on the back cover member 601 of the payout block 6 are operated to be unlocked with a finger or the like. As a result, the integrated body of the surface changing block 5 and the payout block 6 can be rotated (opened) with respect to the door block 4, and as shown in FIG. 60 (b), the surface changing block 5 and the payout block 6. Is rotated backward (rotated to the open position). Then, the second cover member 158 is released from being fixed by the surface changing block 5 by rotating the integrated body of the blocks 5 and 6 in this way.

  Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 61, the second cover member 158 is removed from the upper plate unit 15 with the upper plate unit 15 fixed to the door block 4. In this case, the fixing by the surface changing block 5 is released as described above, and a fixing tool such as a screw or a screw is not used. Accordingly, the leaf spring portion 243 of the second cover member 158 is bent inward so that the hook portion 244 provided on the second cover member 158 is released from the hook receiving portion 166b provided on the upper plate 151. The second cover member 158 can be removed simply by pushing. Thereby, the guide passages 171 to 173 are opened upward, and a hand, a maintenance tool, or the like can be easily inserted into the guide passages 171 to 173. Moreover, since the low-order part 166a is provided in the back side wall part 166 of the upper plate 151 in the vicinity of the guide passages 171 to 173, the above-described insertion work is facilitated.

  After the maintenance of the guide passages 171 to 173 (upper plate 151) as described above, the original state is restored by a procedure reverse to the above procedure. That is, first, the second cover member 158 is disposed with respect to the upper plate 151. At this time, as described above in the “manufacturing process of the gaming machine 1”, the arrangement work of the second cover member 158 can be easily performed. Next, the integrated body of the surface changing block 5 and the payout block 6 is rotated to the door block 4 side so that they are stacked. At this time, the payout block 6 is locked to the door block 4, and the second cover member 158 is fixed to the upper plate 151. Further, in the rotating operation, as described in the “manufacturing process of the gaming machine 1”, it is possible to easily perform the rotating operation of the integrated unit of the surface changing block 5 and the payout block 6.

  Thereafter, the lock members 678 and 679 of the payout block 6 are operated to be locked with a finger or the like. Finally, when the door block 4 is closed with respect to the outer frame 2, the maintenance work of the upper plate 151 is completed. Here, when the second cover member 158 is arranged, the positioning of the second cover member 158 with respect to the upper plate 151 can be easily performed as described in the manufacturing process of the gaming machine 1.

(Explanation of electrical configuration)
Next, the electrical configuration of the gaming machine 1 will be described based on the block diagram of FIG. In FIG. 62, each electric component is divided into a door block 4, a surface changing block 5, and a payout block 6. In addition, a supply line of power supplied from the power supply device 604 is indicated by a double line arrow, and a signal line is indicated by a solid line arrow.

  62, the main control device 505, the display control device 506, and the payout control device 603 are all configured by a logical operation device having a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, etc., and the CPU of each control device is a ROM. Various controls relating to the game are executed based on a calculation program stored in advance. Each of these control devices is connected via a signal line, a relay board, and the like, and in the game, the game progresses by exchanging commands and the like between the control devices.

  Specifically, in the surface changing block 5, the main controller 505 is connected to the reel device 503 and the external terminal plate 575 via the reel relay substrate 548, and the display control device 506 via the sub relay substrate 701. It is connected. In the reel device 503, the rotation of each reel 541 to 543 is controlled based on a command from the main control device 505. The external terminal board 575 is a relay device connected to a hall management device (so-called hall computer) installed in a game hall or the like. Through this external terminal board 575, the game situation (number of games, number of games, etc.) is changed to the hall. Output to the management device. The display control device 506 receives various commands related to the auxiliary effects of each game from the main control device 505, and performs the auxiliary effects by the liquid crystal display device 504 according to the commands, and the door upper relay board provided in the door block 4 The driving of speakers and lamps is controlled via 703 (corresponding to the audio lamp relay board 108). Further, the display control device 506 supplies power to the fluorescent tube 554 provided in the surface changing block 5 while the power of the gaming machine 1 is on.

  Although description by illustration etc. was abbreviate | omitted, this game machine 1 is provided with the door switch for detecting that the game machine main part 3 (door block 4) was open | released with respect to the outer frame 2, This door switch detection signal is input to the main controller 505 via the reel relay board 548.

  In the main controller 505, a part of the RAM is provided with a backup area in which a backup voltage is supplied from the power supply device 604 and data can be retained (backup) even after the gaming machine 1 is powered off. ing. Therefore, when the power is shut down due to the occurrence of a power failure or the like, the various data at the time of power shut-off are stored and retained in the RAM backup area, and the gaming machine 1 at the next power-on (including power-on due to power failure cancellation) Can be restored to the state before the power was shut off.

  In addition, the payout block 6 is provided with a payout block relay board 702, and the main control device 505 of the surface changing block 5, the payout control device 603 of the main payout block 6, and the pick-up block 6 are connected via the payout block relay board 702. Plug-in unit 16 is connected. In addition, the main controller 505 of the surface changing block 5 and the door block relay board 704 of the door block 4 are connected via a payout block relay board 702.

  In this case, when various operation members (the bet switch 38, the start lever 33, and the stop switches 35 to 37) of the door block 4 are operated by the player, the operation is detected by the operation detection unit built in these operation members. Each operation detection signal is input to the main controller 505 via the door block relay board 704 and the payout block relay board 702. For example, when an operation detection signal associated with the operation of the bet switch 38 is input to the main control device 505, the main control device 505 outputs an acquisition control signal to the acquisition unit 16 via the payout block relay board 702. By this take-in control signal, the solenoid 325 in each take-in device 301 to 303 of the take-in unit 16 is driven, and game balls are taken in sequentially. Detection signals from the game ball take-in detection sensors (sensor unit 370 and downstream take-in sensor 380) at the time of taking in the game balls are also input to the main controller 505 via the payout block relay board 702.

  In addition, a stop symbol (three upper and lower symbols visible from the visual window 21 of the door block 4 and a combination of the symbols) of each reel of the reel device 503 is a predetermined game ball paying combination (small role symbol, bonus symbol). If it matches, the main control device 505 sets the number of game balls to be paid out according to each winning combination, and issues a payout control signal corresponding to the payout number via the payout block relay board 702. To 603. As a result, the payout control device 603 drives the payout device 618 (the payout motor 619) to pay out the game ball.

  In the payout control device 603, a part of the RAM retains data by supplying a backup voltage from the power supply device 604 even after the game machine 1 is turned off, like the RAM of the main control device 505. There is a backup area that can be used. Therefore, when the power is shut down due to the occurrence of a power failure or the like, the various data at the time of power shut-off are stored and retained in the RAM backup area, and the gaming machine 1 at the next power-on (including power-on due to power failure cancellation) Can be restored to the state before the power was shut off.

  Although not shown, the payout control device 603 is connected to a ball rental unit that manages the information display board 514 provided on the front frame 501 of the face change block 5 and the payout of game balls lent out from the ball rental unit. A substrate 698 and the like are connected.

  The power supply device 604 takes in AC 24 volt power supplied from the outside, generates + 12V power for driving various switches, motors, etc., + 5V power for logic, backup power for RAM backup, and the like. + 5V power and backup power are supplied to the main controller 505, the payout controller 603, and the like.

(Outline explanation of the game)
Next, an outline of the game performed by the player for the gaming machine 1 configured as described above will be briefly described.

  At the start of the game, when the player presses the bet switch 38 in a situation where there are enough game balls on the upper plate 151, the game balls are taken in by the take-in devices 301 to 303 of the take-in unit 16. Done. When the start lever 33 is operated after a predetermined number (for example, 15) of game balls corresponding to the number of bets has been taken in, the reels 541 to 543 of the reel device 503 are simultaneously or in a predetermined order. Start spinning. When the start lever 33 is operated, the main control unit 505 performs an internal lottery regarding a small role, replay (replay), bonus game, and the like. When the reels 541 to 543 are rotated, the symbols attached to the outer peripheral surface thereof are visually recognized in such a manner as to move from top to bottom through the viewing window 21.

  Thereafter, when the player operates the stop switches 35 to 37 in an arbitrary order, the rotation of the corresponding reels 541 to 543 is stopped in accordance with the operation timing of each of the stop switches 35 to 37. At this time, when the reels 541 to 543 are stopped, pull-in stop control for stopping a predetermined symbol at a specific position is appropriately performed. For example, when a small combination is established by an internal lottery, the stop symbols can be slid up to 4 symbols from the operation timing of the stop switches 35 to 37 so that the combination of the stop symbols in which the small combination is established (Stop symbol sliding is performed). Incidentally, after the start of the rotation of the reels 541 to 543, when the specified time elapses without the stop switches 35 to 37 being operated, the rotation of the reels 541 to 543 is stopped at that time.

  When the reels 541 to 543 are stopped (when the symbols are stopped), when the stopped symbols and the combinations thereof match the small role symbols and bonus symbols, the number of game balls corresponding to the winning combination at that time is paid out. In this case, the game ball is paid out to the upper plate 151 by driving the payout device 618. In detail, as shown in FIG. 50, 50 game balls are paid out when the bell symbol combination is stopped, and 30 game balls are paid out when the watermelon symbol combination is stopped. 10 game balls are paid out when the cherry symbol stops at the left reel 541. In addition, although it is not payout of a game ball, the privilege of a replay (replay) is provided by the combination of a human character symbol stopping.

  According to the embodiment described in detail above, the following excellent effects are obtained.

  A ball rental operating device installation unit 175 is provided on the front side portion of the upper plate 151 protruding forward from the transparent panel 13, and the ball rental operating device 153 is installed in the installation unit 175. Thereby, the visibility of the frequency display unit 185 is improved, and the operability of the push button members 186 and 187 is further improved. Further, since the ball rental operation device 153 is protected from above by the ball rental operation device installation unit 175 and the third cover member 159, the game balls stored in the upper plate 151 are stored in the ball rental operation device installation unit 175. It is possible to prevent the frequency display portion 185 and the like from being damaged even if it bounces away.

  In this case, the ball lending operation device 153 is installed so that the frequency display unit 185 and the push button members 186 and 187 of the ball lending operation device 153 are directed obliquely upward in front of the gaming machine, and further, the ball lending operation device installation unit 175 and The near side portions (the near side installation portion 175a and the near side inclined region 271a) protecting the periphery of the frequency display portion 185 and the push button members 186 and 187 in the third cover member 159 are inclined downward toward the near side. Thereby, the visibility of the frequency display unit 185 can be further improved, and the operability of the push button members 186 and 187 can be further improved. That is, a player who plays a game on the gaming machine 1 generally sits in front of the gaming machine 1 to play a game, and the height of the player's eyes and shoulders is higher than the upper plate 151. is there. In such a case, with the above-described configuration, the player can easily see the display of the frequency display unit 185 only by facing diagonally downward, and the player can diagonally downward toward the push button members 186 and 187. This is because the push button members 187 and 188 can be pressed without difficulty by moving the arm.

  Further, the back side inclined region 271b of the third cover member 159 is formed to be lower than the upper edge of the peripheral wall 162 of the upper plate 151 and the back side end portion of the near side inclined region 271a. Thereby, even if the number of game balls exceeding the capacity of the ball storage area is stored in the upper plate 151, the surplus game balls are retreated to the back side inclined region 271b, and the game balls overflow from the upper plate 151. Can be suppressed. Therefore, in the configuration in which the ball rental operating device 153 is installed on the front side portion of the upper plate 151 as described above, the capacity of the ball storage area of the upper plate 151 can be ensured as much as possible.

  Moreover, the back side inclined region 271b is inclined downward toward the back end of the third cover member 159, so that the back side inclined region 271b is lower than the back side end of the near side inclined region 271a. ing. As a result, the game ball placed on the back-side inclined area 271b is positioned near the back-side end of the third cover member 159 due to its own weight, so that the game ball is unlikely to be placed on the near-side inclined area 271a. When a game ball is placed on the front side inclined region 271a, the game ball may jump out of the upper plate 151 due to the inclination, but according to this configuration, occurrence of such inconvenience can be suppressed.

  The rear side end of the third cover member 159 was brought into contact with the front side end surface 251 of the second cover member 158. As a result, the game balls placed on the back-side inclined region 271b of the third cover member 159 are directly guided to the guide passages 171 to 173, thereby inhibiting the flow of the game balls aligned in the guide passages 171 to 173. Can be prevented.

  The back side inclined region 271b was formed to be inclined downward toward the near side region A1 of the upper plate 151. As a result, if the number of game balls stored in the near side area A1 of the upper plate 151 decreases, the game balls retreated to the back side inclined area 271b will naturally flow down to the near side area A1 of the upper plate 151. Therefore, in the configuration in which the back side inclined region 271b having a function as an auxiliary storage part is provided, the flow of the game ball in the upper plate 151 can be made smooth.

  The height directions of the guide passages 171 to 173 were regulated by the second cover member 158 so that the game balls would not be stacked in the guide passages 171 to 173 of the upper plate 151. Thereby, the flow of the game ball from the respective guide passages 171 to 173 to the take-in unit 16 can be made smooth. Further, according to this configuration, since the means for regulating the height direction is provided as a second cover member 158 separately from the upper plate 151 or the like, the second cover member 158 is maintained during maintenance of the upper plate 151 or the like. The second cover member 158 can be removed when the battery is damaged. In this configuration, a first cover member 157 extending from the upper edge of the peripheral wall portion 162 to above the sphere storage region (sphere storage space) is provided, and the first cover member 157 (including the back side wall portion 166 of the upper plate 151 is included). The second cover member 158 is suspended and supported. That is, the ball storage area of the upper plate 151 is not used for supporting the second cover member 158. Therefore, in the configuration in which the means for regulating the height direction of the guide passages 171 to 173 is separately provided as the second cover member 158, the second cover member 158 can be supported without reducing the ball storage area. .

  The guide passages 171 to 173 and the right side wall 201 of the upper plate 151 are separated from each other, and the first cover member 157 is supported on the rear side wall 166 of the upper plate 151 at the separated position. Accordingly, in the configuration in which the guide passages 171 to 173 are provided on one end side in the left-right direction of the upper plate 151, the support strength of the second cover member 158 on the one end side is increased, and the second cover member 158 is supported. It can be performed in a stable state. In this case, the guide passages 171 to 173 and the right side wall portion 201 of the upper plate 151 are slightly separated from each other by one game ball, and the extending wall portion 202 is formed in the separated portion. Further, the extended wall portion 202 is formed so that the upper surface 202a thereof is lower than the upper edge of the peripheral wall portion 162 of the upper plate 151, and further, the upper surface 202a is formed via the upper surface of the third cover member 159. Communicated with. As a result, even if the number of game balls that exceed the capacity of the ball storage area and the back-side inclined area 271 b of the third cover member 159 are stored in the upper plate 151, the excess game balls remain on the extension wall 202. It is possible to prevent the game ball from overflowing from the upper plate 151 by being retracted to the upper surface 202a. That is, the above-described effect can be obtained by effectively using a region provided to increase the support strength of the second cover member 158.

  Further, the extended wall portion 202 is formed so that the upper surface 202a is inclined downward toward the back side inclined region 271b. As a result, it is assumed that the number of game balls exceeding the capacity of the near side area A1, the back side area A2, and the back side inclined area 271b are stored in the upper plate 151, and the game balls are retreated to the upper surface 202a of the extending wall 202. However, as the number of game balls stored in the back-side inclined area 271b decreases, the retreated game balls flow down to the back-side inclined area 271b due to their own weight. Therefore, in the configuration in which the upper surface 202a of the extending wall portion 202 having a function as an auxiliary storage portion is provided, the flow of the game ball in the upper plate 151 can be made smooth.

  In the communication location of the upper surface 202a of the extension wall part 202 and the back side inclination area | region 271b, both were made the same height. As a result, a number of game balls that exceed the capacities of the near side area A1, the back side area A2, and the back side inclined area 271b are stored in the upper plate 151, so that the surplus game balls naturally extend to the extending wall portion 202. Is retracted to the upper surface 202a. Further, as the number of game balls stored in the back-side inclined area 271b decreases, the game balls retreated to the upper surface 202a of the extension wall portion 202 naturally flow down to the back-side inclined area 271b. Therefore, the movement of the game ball between the back side inclined region 271b and the upper surface 202a of the extending wall portion 202 can be made smooth.

  A start lever 33 and stop switches 35 to 37 are arranged on the front plate portion 31 of the operation unit 30, and the ball rental operating device 153 is arranged on the upper plate 151 as described above. As a result, it is possible to prevent the push button member 186 from being erroneously operated when operating the start lever 33 and the stop switches 35 to 37, and the rental of balls is executed against the player's intention. This can be suppressed.

  In addition to the embodiment described above, for example, the following may be implemented.

  (1) In the above embodiment, the back side protection portion is provided by tilting the third cover member 159 downward from the middle position in the front-rear direction toward the back side end, but this may be changed. . For example, it is good also as a structure which provides a back side protection part by making the 3rd cover member 159 into a step shape so that the back | inner side part of the 3rd cover member 159 may become low with respect to a near side part. Even in such a configuration, the game ball is retracted to the back side protection portion, so that the ball storage area of the upper plate 151 can be as large as possible.

  (2) In the above embodiment, the front side installation portion 175a of the ball rental operation device installation portion 175 and the first display portion 185 and the push button members 186, 187 of the ball rental operation device 153 are directed diagonally upward. Although the front side inclined region 271a of the three cover member 159 is formed to be inclined downward toward the front side, this may be changed. For example, the near-side installation portion 175a and the near-side inclined region 271a may be formed so that the frequency display portion 185 and the push button members 186 and 187 face substantially vertically upward.

  (3) In the above embodiment, the ball rental operating device installation unit 175 is provided on the front side of the guide passages 171 to 173. However, the position where the installation unit 175 is provided is arbitrary as long as it is the front side portion of the upper plate 151. .

  (4) In the above-described embodiment, the protection means is configured by the rental ball operating device installation unit 175 and the third cover member 159, but this may be changed. For example, it is good also as a structure which provides the function of the ball rental operation apparatus installation part 175, and the function of the 3rd cover member 159 integrally. In this case, the protection means in which both functions are integrated may be formed integrally with the upper plate 151, or may be configured separately from the upper plate 151.

  (5) In the above embodiment, the second cover member 158 as a regulating body is provided separately from the upper plate 151. However, the function as the regulating body is integrally formed with the upper plate 151. Alternatively, the front door 11 of the door block 4 may be integrally formed.

  (6) In the above embodiment, the ball lending operation device 153 is installed in the installation portion 175 formed on the front portion of the upper plate 151, but the present invention is not limited to this and other operations operated by the player It is good also as a structure which arrange | positions a means. For example, a configuration in which start operation means such as a start switch is installed in the installation unit 175 may be adopted. Moreover, it is good also as a structure which installs not only an operation means but a display means. For example, a display means for displaying the number of game balls to be paid out when the game state is a big hit state may be installed.

  (7) Each of the guide passages 171 to 173 and the right side wall 201 of the upper plate 151 may be separated by two game balls or three or more game balls. In this case, the support strength on the side wall 201 side of the second cover member 157 can be further increased, and the auxiliary storage portion can be expanded.

  (8) In the above-described embodiment, the three capture devices 301 to 303 are provided as the capture unit 16, but only one capture device may be provided. In this configuration, the upper plate 151 is provided with one guide passage. Moreover, it is good also as a structure which provides two, four, five, or six or more capture devices. In this configuration, the upper plate 151 is provided with the same number of guide passages as the number of take-in devices.

  (9) The lower plate 71 is eliminated from the gaming machine 1 and only the upper plate 151 is provided. In this case, a sufficient amount of game balls can be stored and held as the gaming machine 1 by increasing the capacity of the upper plate 151 and the payout passage behind it.

  (10) The main control device 505 and the display control device 506 may be integrated so that the main control device 505 has the control function of the display control device 506. On the other hand, among the control functions of the display control device 506, control of speakers and lamps may be left to another control device. For example, a sound lamp control device for controlling speakers and lamps is newly provided to subdivide the control sharing.

  (11) The number of games balls inserted per bet (predetermined number), the maximum number of games inserted, the number of payouts, etc. of the game balls in the above embodiment are merely examples, and are not particularly limited to the above numerical values.

  (12) The present invention can also be applied to pachinko gaming machines. In the case of a pachinko gaming machine, a gaming machine main body is mounted on the outer frame, and a door member is provided on the front side of the gaming machine main body. The gaming machine body is provided with a gaming board in which a gaming area is formed and a winning device, a liquid crystal display device, etc. are installed, and the gaming area and the liquid crystal display device can be visually recognized by a viewing window provided on the door member. It has become. Further, the door member is provided with a ball tray for storing the game ball, and the game ball stored in the ball tray is directed to the game area by the game ball launching device when the launch operation handle is operated by the player. Fired. Then, as the launched game balls are awarded to the winning device, internal lottery and game balls are paid out. In such a configuration, it is possible to store more game balls by protruding the ball tray forward. In addition, by installing the ball rental operating device in the front side region of the ball tray, the operability of the ball rental operating unit can be improved. In the configuration in which the ball rental operating device is provided with the ball rental display unit, Visibility can be improved. In this case, an auxiliary storage unit can be provided by applying the configuration in the above-described embodiment with respect to the ball rental operation device installation unit and its cover member, and assure the capacity of the ball storage region of the ball tray as large as possible. Can do. Furthermore, the operability and the visibility can be further improved by adopting a configuration in which the sphere rental operation section and the sphere rental display section are oriented obliquely upward in front of the gaming machine.

It is a perspective view showing the whole gaming machine in one embodiment. It is a front view of a gaming machine. It is a perspective view which shows the internal open state of a gaming machine. It is a perspective view which shows the internal open state of a gaming machine. It is a rear view of a gaming machine. It is a figure which shows typically the outline | summary of the game machine main part and its opening / closing operation | movement. It is the perspective view which looked at the door block from back. It is a perspective view which decomposes | disassembles and shows the main structures of a door block. It is a perspective view which decomposes | disassembles and shows the main structures of a door block. It is a perspective view which isolate | separates and shows a front door body and an inner frame. It is a perspective view which isolate | separates and shows a front door body and an inner frame. It is a perspective view which shows the detailed structure of a locking device. It is a perspective view which shows the detailed structure of a locking device. It is a perspective view which shows the detailed structure of a locking device. It is the perspective view seen from the front of the upper plate unit. It is the perspective view seen from the back of an upper plate unit. (A) is the top view seen from the upper direction of the upper plate unit, (b) is the top view seen from the lower side of the upper plate unit. It is a disassembled perspective view of an upper plate unit. It is a perspective view of an upper plate. It is a top view of an upper plate. It is a perspective view which shows an upper plate and the various cover members provided in this upper plate. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the attachment structure of a 1st cover member. It is a side view of a gaming machine including a partially broken section. It is the elements on larger scale of FIG. It is a front view of the 2nd cover member. It is a figure for demonstrating arrangement | positioning work of a 2nd cover member. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating a motion of the surplus game ball in a ball | bowl storage area | region. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating a motion of the surplus game ball in a ball | bowl storage area | region. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of a discharge operation transmission apparatus. It is a top view which shows the structure of the discharge operation transmission apparatus. It is a disassembled perspective view of a ball stopper. It is a top view which shows the structure of a ball stopper. It is a rear view which shows the state with which the intake unit was mounted | worn under the upper plate, and the state isolate | separated from the back side. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the operation state of a ball stopper and the flow of a game ball. It is a perspective view of an intake unit. It is a perspective view of an intake unit. It is a disassembled perspective view of an intake unit. It is sectional drawing which shows the internal structure of a taking-in apparatus. It is a disassembled perspective view of a taking-in apparatus. It is a figure which shows the structure of the opening part periphery of an upper plate. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of a discharge gate member. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating operation | movement of a discharge gate member. It is a perspective view of a surface change block. It is a perspective view of a surface change block. It is a front view of a surface change block. It is a disassembled perspective view of a surface change block. It is a disassembled perspective view of a surface change block. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of a front frame. It is a front view of a surface change block. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the game information provided to the panel. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of a reel apparatus. It is a perspective view of a payout block. It is a perspective view of a payout block. It is a rear view of a payout block. It is a perspective view which isolate | separates and shows a payout apparatus etc. from the payout block. It is a perspective view which shows the state which removed control devices from the payout block. It is a rear view which shows the state which removed control devices from the payout block. It is a figure for demonstrating the manufacturing process of a gaming machine. It is a figure for demonstrating the manufacturing process of a gaming machine. It is a figure for demonstrating the maintenance process of a gaming machine. It is a figure for demonstrating the maintenance process of a gaming machine. It is a block diagram for demonstrating the electrical structure of a game machine.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Game machine, 2 ... Outer frame, 4 ... Door block, 5 ... Surface change block, 6 ... Dispensing block, 13 ... Transparent panel as window part, 15 ... Upper plate unit, 16 ... Taking-in unit, 33 ... Start-up Start lever as operating means, 35-37 ... Stop switch as stopping operation means, 151 ... Upper plate as ball receiving tray, 153 ... Ball rental operating device, 158 ... Second cover member as regulating body, 159 ... Protecting means ,... Peripheral wall portion, 166... Back side wall portion, 171 to 173... Guide passage as exit passage, 175... Renting operation device installation portion constituting protection means, 175 a. 185b ... back side installation part constituting the back side protection part, 185 ... frequency display part as display part, 186, 187 ... push button member as operation part, 20 ...... Side wall part 202 ... Extension wall part 202a ... Upper surface as auxiliary storage part 251 ... Front side end face 271a ... Front side inclined area constituting front side protection part 271b ... Back side constituting rear side protection part Side inclined region, 301 to 303: take-in device, 501 ... front frame as base body, 503 ... reel device as picture display device, 505 ... main control device, 506 ... display control device, 618 ... as ball discharge means Dispensing device, A1... Front side region constituting the ball storage region, A2... Back side region constituting the ball storage region.

Claims (2)

A gaming machine front body that constitutes a gaming machine front portion and is provided to be rotatable in front of the gaming machine;
A locking device for locking the gaming machine front body in a closed position;
A pattern display device for variably displaying the pattern;
A window portion provided on the front portion of the gaming machine and enabling visual recognition of the variation display of the pattern in the pattern display device;
Starting operation means operated to start the display of the variation of the pattern;
A stop operation means operated to stop the display of variation of the pattern;
A ball tray that is formed to project forward in the lower part of the window part in the front part of the gaming machine and stores game balls,
A take-in device for taking in game balls stored in a ball tray,
When a predetermined number of game balls are taken in by the take-in device and the start operation means is operated, the display of the variation of the picture is started, and according to the stop picture after the operation of the stop operation means In a gaming machine that pays out a predetermined number of game balls to a ball tray,
An operation device different from the start operation means and the stop operation means having an operation portion that is formed in a front side region of the ball tray so as to be higher than a ball storage portion of the ball tray and that is operated during a game. Alternatively, an installation area is provided in which at least one of display devices having a display unit on which information related to games is displayed,
The installation area is provided with protection means for protecting the device installed there from above, and not protecting the start operation means and the stop operation means from above ,
Protective measures are
A front side protection unit that configures a front side region of the protection means, protects the operation device while allowing the operation unit to be operated, or protects the display device while allowing the display unit to be visually recognized;
The rear side protection part is formed so as to be lower than the upper side edge part of the front side protection part and the upper edge of the peripheral wall part of the ball tray, which constitutes the back side region from the front side protection part,
In the back side region of the ball tray, on one end side in the left-right direction, an exit passage is provided that extends in the left-right direction and guides the game balls aligned toward the take-in device,
The ball tray is arranged so that the exit passage is on the back side of the window part, the take-in device is arranged on the back side of the window part,
Covering the upper surface opening side of the outlet passage to prevent the game balls from being stacked in the outlet passage, and opening the front side of the gaming machine to the rear side between the back end of the ball tray and the window portion A regulating body that shields between the two so that a space is not formed,
A support means provided on the ball tray, having at least an opening exposing the outlet passage, and supporting the regulating body from below;
It is provided on the back side of the gaming machine front body, and is movable between a closed position and an open position that are closed with respect to the gaming machine front body, and closes the opening with respect to the support means in the closed position. A clamping body that holds the regulation body together with support means above the regulation body placed from above, and releases the clamping in the open position,
Forming the installation area in front of the outlet passage;
A back end portion of the back side protection portion is brought into contact with a side wall of the restricting body extending in a vertical direction;
Separating one or more game balls between the outlet passage and the side wall portion of the ball tray on the side where the outlet passage is provided;
The spaced region is partitioned by a side wall extending in the vertical direction of the regulating body and a peripheral wall portion of the ball tray, and is lower than an upper edge of the peripheral wall portion of the ball tray and communicates with the back side protection portion. A game machine characterized in that an auxiliary storage part is provided. The gaming machine according to claim 1, wherein the pattern display device includes a plurality of circuit bodies that circulate in a circumferential direction and in which a plurality of types of patterns are arranged in the circumferential direction.

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