JP2000140407A - Article ejection device for game machines - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To dissolve the clogging of an article mounted on an article stock part by applying vibration to the article and discharging the articles stored in the article stock part one by one from an article discharge port. SOLUTION: Many capsules 1 housing gifts are stored in a stock part 2, the stock part 2 is provided with a stock plate 3 formed in a rectangular or square shape and the stock plate 3 is inclined and arranged so as to bring one corner to a lowest position. Then, at the corner at the lowest position of the stock plate 3, a discharge port 4 capable of dropping one capsule 1 is formed. A fence 5 for leading the capsule 1 to the discharge port 4 is provided, the vibration is applied to the stock plate 3 by a vibration generator 10 and the capsule 1 is discharged from the discharge port 4 one by one. Thus, the clogging of the capsule 1 mounted on the stock part 2 is dissolved.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an article discharging device for a game machine for discharging a plurality of stored articles such as prizes one by one.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there are many game machines called so-called prize games in which a prize is paid out according to a game result. There are various types of prizes in this type of prize game machine, and many prize game machines handle prizes in which goods are contained in capsules. In such a prize game machine using capsules, when paying out capsules, it is necessary to surely prevent the problem that two or more capsules are discharged at a time or not discharged.

[0003] In a conventional game machine, a rail system and a stirring system are well known as a method of stocking a plurality of prizes therein and discharging them one by one. In the former rail system, capsules are placed on rails arranged with an inclination to roll under their own weight, and a movable stopper is moved by a solenoid or the like to release only one capsule and discharge it.

In the latter stirring method, a large number of capsules or coins are placed on a rotating disk, and a plurality of (for example, four) concave portions for accommodating one of the articles are formed on the disk. A shutter is provided on the bottom plate of the recess. Then, when an article enters the concave portion by rotating the disk, the concave portion is moved to the discharge port, the shutter is opened, and the article is discharged.

[0005]

However, the above-mentioned prize stock system has the following problems.
In the former rail system, capsules to be guided to the movable stopper are also mounted on the rails, so that the number of capsules that can be stocked is greatly limited, and there is a problem that capsules must be replenished frequently. To solve this problem, it is conceivable to increase the length of the rail, but it is not practical because the space is naturally limited.

In the latter stirring method, the number of stock articles can be increased by increasing the diameter of the disk. However, the disk must be rotated with the large number of articles placed thereon, and the apparatus itself is required. There is a problem that the size is increased and the cost is increased. Furthermore, since the latter is based on the accidental phenomenon that the article falls into the recess during agitation, when the number of disk-shaped articles decreases, the probability that the article falls into the recess decreases and the article can be discharged. There was also a risk that a long operation time would be required.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems,
It is an object of the present invention to provide an inexpensive game machine article discharge device that can stock a large amount of articles even in a limited space, and has a simple configuration and is inexpensive.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention relates to an article discharging apparatus for a game machine for discharging a plurality of stored articles such as prizes one by one.
An article stock unit for storing a plurality of the articles, an article outlet for discharging the articles stored in the article stock unit one by one, and vibration generating means for applying vibration to the articles;
It is characterized by having.

The present invention is effective when the article stock section is supported by a game machine via an elastic member. Further, the present invention is effective when the article stock section has a fence member which is supported by the game machine at an inclination so that the position of the article discharge section is lowered and guides the article to the article discharge port. It is.

Further, the present invention is effective when the vibration generating means is arranged to vibrate near the article discharge port. Furthermore, the present invention is effective when the vibration generating means generates countless minute vibrations.

Further, according to the present invention, there is provided a detecting means for detecting that the article has been discharged to the article discharge port, and when the detecting means does not detect the article, the vibration generating means changes from an off state to an on state. When switched, it is effective.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of an article discharge device for a game machine according to the present invention.

In FIG. 1, the article discharging apparatus of the present embodiment is for discharging a capsule containing a prize. Reference numeral 1 denotes a capsule in which a prize is stored, and 2 denotes a stock unit capable of storing many capsules. It is. The stock portion 2 of the present embodiment has a stock plate 3 formed in a rectangular or square quadrilateral, and the stock plate 3 is arranged so as to be inclined such that one corner is at the lowest position. In the lowermost corner of the stock plate 3, one of the capsules 1 is placed.
An outlet 4 from which the individual can be dropped is formed, and the outlet 4 is connected to a prize dispensing means (not shown). Also, the capsule 1 is prevented from falling around the stock plate 3,
A fence 5 for guiding the capsule 1 to the outlet 4 is provided.

The inclination of the stock plate 3 is set so that when the capsule 1 is placed on the stock plate 3 in a substantially circular or polished shape rather than at a very large angle, the capsule 1 rolls slowly and reaches the lowest position. When a large number of capsules 1 are placed on the stock plate 3 even with such an inclination, the capsules 1 gather at the lowermost position side due to the inclination. At this time, a bridging phenomenon may occur in which the capsules 1 come into contact with each other, the forces are balanced, and the capsules 1 do not move in front of the outlet 4 or the like. In this case, even if the capsule 1 is stored in the stock unit 2, a situation occurs in which the capsule 1 is not supplied to the prize payout means, and the game machine becomes in a state where the prize cannot be paid out.

Therefore, in the present invention, a vibration generator 10 as a vibration generating means is provided to forcibly vibrate the stock plate 3. As shown in FIG. 2, the vibration generator 10 according to the present embodiment is configured by fixing a motor 11 having an eccentric weight member 12 to a rotating shaft to a stock portion 2, and when the motor 11 is driven to rotate, The motor 11 itself vibrates by the eccentric weight member 12, and the vibration is transmitted to the stock plate 3 supporting the motor 11.

The vibration generator 10 is based on the same mechanism as a device for generating vibration in a health appliance or the like, and the vibration generated at this time is a relatively fine continuous vibration.

[0017] Even if a bridge phenomenon occurs in which the minute vibrations cause the capsules 1 to come into contact with each other and balance as described above, the balance can be easily broken, so that clogging of the capsules 1 is reliably prevented. be able to. Note that the stock unit 2 is easily vibrated by the vibration generator 10.
It is preferable to support the game machine via an elastic member 13 such as rubber or a spring. Also, the vibration generator 1
0 is advantageously located near the outlet 4 where the clogging of the capsule 1 occurs.

With this configuration, a large number of capsules 1 can be placed on the stock plate 3, and the last one can be reliably discharged to the discharge port 4. The capsules 1 discharged from the discharge port 4 may be discharged one by one out of the machine by the above-described prize dispensing means such as a conventional rail type.

The vibration generator 10 can be operated at all times, or can be operated at regular intervals. Further, a sensor (not shown) for detecting that the capsule 1 has passed through the cylinder 4a of the discharge port 4 is provided, and the sensor does not detect the capsule 1 even though the capsule 1 is discharged outside the machine. Only vibration generator 10
Can also be activated. That is, the vibration generator 10
May be normally turned off, and only when the sensor of the discharge port 4 does not detect the capsule 1 may be switched to the on state to operate.

With this configuration, useless operation of the vibration generator 10 is eliminated, and the clogging of the capsule can be efficiently eliminated. The sensor for detecting the presence or absence of the capsule may be provided in the prize payout means, and the vibration generator 10 may be operated when the payout means has no capsule to be discharged. Although the outlet 4 is provided at the corner of the stock plate 3 in the above embodiment, the outlet 4 may be provided at a lower position of the stock plate 3, and the position is arbitrary.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the stock plate 3 is provided so that the mounting surface of the capsule 1 is horizontal without tilting the stock plate 3. The stock plate 3 is provided with a discharge port 4 on one end side.
A movable wall 15 for slidably moving the capsule 1 to the discharge port 4 is provided at the end opposite to the side where 4 is provided. The movable wall 15 is constantly urged by a spring 16 to move in the direction of the arrow, and the capsule 1 is pushed by the movable wall 15 to move to the discharge port 4 even if the stock plate 3 is horizontal. The movable wall 15 may press the capsule 1 by a mechanism using a drive source such as a motor instead of a spring.

Even in the stock portion configured as described above, the provision of the vibration generator 10 reliably prevents the capsule 1 from being clogged in front of the discharge port 4.

As described above, the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, but can be variously modified. For example, the vibration generator may be configured to directly vibrate the stock plate with a striker operated by a solenoid, a cam or the like.

The outlet may be a gate or a passage through which one capsule can pass, instead of the opening through which the capsule falls.

Although the above-described embodiment discharges a prize capsule as an article, the present invention can also be applied to an apparatus for discharging a plurality of balls used in a game.

[0026]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, even if the articles placed in the article stocking section are jammed, the jam can be eliminated by vibration and the articles can be discharged one by one.

According to the configuration of the second, fourth and fifth aspects, it is possible to more reliably eliminate the article clogging on the stock portion. According to the configuration of claim 3, a large number of articles can be stocked even in a limited space.

According to the configuration of claim 6, the vibration generating means can be operated only when the article is clogged.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of an article discharge device for a game machine according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a vibration generating unit.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing a modification of a stock unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Capsule (article) 2 Stock part 3 Stock plate 4 Discharge port 5 Fence 6 Elastic member 10 Vibration generating means

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An article ejection device for a game machine for ejecting a plurality of stored articles such as prizes one by one, comprising: an article stock section for storing a plurality of articles; and an article stored in the article stock section. An article ejection device for a game machine, comprising: an article ejection port for ejecting the articles one by one; and vibration generating means for applying vibration to the article. 2. The article discharge device for a game machine according to claim 1, wherein said article stock portion is supported by said game machine via an elastic member. 3. The article discharge device for a game machine according to claim 1, wherein the article stock section is supported by the game machine while being inclined so that the position of the article discharge section is lowered. An article discharging device for a game machine, characterized by having a fence member for guiding the article to the article discharging port. 4. The article discharge device for a game machine according to claim 1, wherein said vibration generating means is arranged to vibrate near said article discharge port. An article ejection device for game machines. 5. The article discharging apparatus for a game machine according to claim 1, wherein said vibration generating means generates an infinite number of minute vibrations. . 6. An article discharging apparatus for a game machine according to claim 1, further comprising a detecting means for detecting that the article has been discharged to said article discharging port, wherein said detecting means includes an article. Wherein the vibration generating means is switched from an off state to an on state when no is detected.