JP2003245406A - Lump-sum coin loading device, automatic selector and slot machine - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] The present invention is to separate a plurality of coins one by one in a limited small space by taking in a plurality of coins inserted in a lump while moving the coins diagonally. It is an object of the present invention to provide a coin insertion device, an automatic selector, and a slot game machine which can efficiently take in coins and have improved coin taking performance. According to the present invention, a collective slot for allowing a plurality of coins to be collectively inserted into an operation unit on a front face, and a plurality of coins which are collectively inserted from the collective insertion port to communicate with the inside thereof are provided. A coin insertion device having a diagonal feed path that is provided obliquely long with respect to the depth direction of the device main body so that the space between the coin receiving portions up to the coin separating and receiving portion that separates and takes in one by one is taken. It is characterized by.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a coin taking-in device for taking in coins such as medals or circulating coins collectively used in a slot game machine used as a kind of popular entertainment, More specifically, the present invention relates to a batch insertion coin take-in device, an automatic selector, and a slot game machine, which are small in size and efficiently disperse a plurality of coins taken in collectively and smoothly take in one by one.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A coin take-in device built in a slot game machine in a game hall will be described below as an example.

Normally, a slot game machine has a coin insertion slot on the front surface of the main body of the apparatus, and a player inserts coins into the coin insertion slot one by one to insert the coin.

However, when using such a game, it is necessary to insert a coin frequently, and the player's hands and shoulders are physically tired. In addition, since the coin is directly touched with a bare hand, the coin metal powder adheres to the hand, and the player's hand is heavily soiled, which is not preferable in terms of hygiene.

In recent years, there has been known a coin supply device in which an independent coin vending machine is installed between a plurality of slot gaming machines arranged in parallel so that a required number of coins can be purchased from the coin vending machine.

However, in this case, the coin vending machine supplies the purchased coins to the lower plate of the slot game machine through the nozzles, the coins are accumulated in the lower plate and waits for insertion, and then the player. However, the operation of carrying coins one by one from the lower plate to the upper coin insertion slot does not change, the game burden for coin insertion is large, and the present situation is that the coin insertion burden on the player has not been improved at all. is there.

Therefore, if the coins are collectively received, the operation of inserting each coin can be omitted, so that it is conceivable to provide a collective insertion slot.

[0008]

However, in this case, when coins are thrown in at one time, a batch throwing coin taking-in device for taking in and processing a plurality of coins one by one inside the device is required. Since the inserted coin take-in device requires a large take-in space inside the device, the entire device is large.

For example, as shown in Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 2-23909, in order to separate a plurality of coins (coins) that have been inserted all at once, coin transfer paths are vertically combined in a plurality of stages. As a result, the moving distance for coin dispersion is long, but there is a laminated structure passage to secure the long moving distance, and the coin is bulky in the vertical direction, resulting in an increase in size of the entire apparatus.

Therefore, according to the present invention, a plurality of coins that have been inserted at a time are taken in while being obliquely moved, so that a plurality of coins can be separated one by one in a limited small space and taken in efficiently. It is an object of the present invention to provide a batch insertion coin take-in device, an automatic selector, and a slot game machine with improved coin taking performance.

[0011]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, a batch insertion slot for allowing a plurality of coins to be inserted into a front operation portion at one time, and a batch insertion are made in communication from the batch insertion opening to the inside thereof. Collective coins with a diagonal feed path that is long in the diagonal direction with respect to the depth direction of the main body between the coin take-in sections up to the coin separating and taking-in section It is a capturing device.

[0012] Here, the coin is a general term for a small circular disc that is different depending on its use. For example, in the case of a slot game machine, it is a medal that is used for games, and also an ATM (Automatic Teller Machine), a vending machine, etc. Then it is a circulating coin.

The operation unit is a user's operation surface provided on the front surface of the apparatus main body, and has a batch insertion opening for allowing a plurality of coins to be inserted at a time in the operation unit.

The coin separation and take-in unit is a coin that includes a conveyor belt on which coins are placed and conveyed, and a separation roller that rotates on the upper surface of the conveyor belt in a direction opposite to the belt conveyance direction.
It can be constructed by arranging them one above the other with a space between them.
Further, if the outer peripheral surface of the separating roller is provided in the concave groove, the coins on the upper surface side can make the contact between the outer peripheral surface of the roller and the coin line contact, not surface contact, when two coins are loaded in a stack. It is possible to properly promote the separation of two coins.

The oblique feed passage is a conveyor belt for carrying coins on the upper surface and conveying the coins in the depth direction of the apparatus main body, and the coin feeding direction on the upper surface of the belt is long in the oblique direction with respect to the depth direction of the apparatus main body. It can be constructed by installing the inclined guide member in opposition.

As a result, even if a plurality of coins are collectively inserted into the collective insertion slot,
It is obliquely fed along an oblique feed path communicating with the inside thereof, and is taken in through a conveyance path longer than a straight path in the depth direction of the apparatus main body. For this reason, the coins thrown in at one time are gradually dispersed in a long conveying process from the piled state and are guided to the coin separating and capturing section.

In particular, by providing the diagonal feed passage, a wide space for allowing the coins to be dispersed can be provided just before the coin separating and capturing portion in the subsequent stage, and even if the coins are continuously fed, the diagonal feed direction Since the direction is changed to the straight take-in direction that corresponds to the depth direction of the device body, the feed direction and take-in direction are different,
The coin-separating and taking-in section, which takes in one by one, can be taken in smoothly without applying a feeding load.

Further, in this coin separating / acquiring portion, a sufficient back space can be ensured when pushing back the separated coins which have been separated and not taken in after one coin has been picked up from the stacked conveying state, and the coin jamming element is avoided as much as possible. Can be taken.

As described above, since it is possible to construct an oblique feeding passage suitable for taking in a plurality of coins, a large taking-in space is not required inside the apparatus, and the depth direction of the apparatus main body is limited to a small size. Can be realized even with the above device. In particular, since the coin take-in passage can be lengthened by effectively utilizing the space in the left-right direction, it is possible to improve the dispersion performance and the take-up performance of the piled coins after they are collectively inserted.

When an automatic selector for automatically selecting coins inserted by combining the batch insertion coin take-in device and the coin selecting device is provided, this automatic selector may be built in, for example, a slot game machine. Yes, in this case, the game machine of the existing size can be applied as it is.

Further, when a coin lending machine for lending coins is provided adjacent to each slot gaming machine, a plurality of coin lending machines are provided from the coin lending machine side to the batch insertion slot on the slot gaming machine side when the player purchases coins. A coin can be automatically supplied.

In this case, it is not necessary to insert coins one by one, the coins can be automatically supplied, and the inserting operation for each coin can be omitted, improving the operation efficiency of the player and improving the game serviceability. It is possible to improve. In addition, since the player does not touch the coin, the player's hands are not soiled, and hygienic and preferable game use can be achieved.

[0023]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. The drawing shows a slot game machine installed in a game hall. As shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of pairs of slot game machines 12 and chairs 13 are installed in parallel in the game hall 11, and the right side of each slot game machine 12 ... Adjacent to each other are inter-machine medal lending machines 14 ...

FIG. 2 shows a slot gaming machine 12 and a stand-to-machine medal lender 14 which is arranged in a pair on the right side of the slot gaming machine 12. The slot gaming machine 12 has a lamp on the front upper portion of a device main body 15 having a vertically long rectangular parallelepiped. 16 and a reel 18 that is built in with a transparent panel 17 interposed therebetween, and a multi-sheet hanging setting button 19, a start lever 20, three stop buttons 21, and a batch insertion port 22 in the front middle part. And has a payout opening 23 and a receiving tray 24 at the lower part of the front surface.

On the other hand, the inter-machine token lending machine 14 has a nozzle 26, a bill insertion slot 27, and a collection box 28 from the upper side to the lower side on the front surface of the lending machine body 25 which is also a vertically long rectangular parallelepiped and has the same height. And in this order.

By the way, the slot game machine 12 used here is provided with a medal non-contact type hygienic and highly serviceable function which allows the player to use the game without touching the medal. Slot game machine 1
In order to enable 2, the slot game machine 12 side is formed with a collective insertion port 22 having a large open concave upper surface for allowing a plurality of medals to be received at one time, projecting to the front right side of the device main body 15. . Further, a nozzle 26 for ejecting medals is provided on the side of the inter-machine medal lender 14, and the tip of the nozzle 26 is connected to the collective insertion slot 22.

As a result, the player can use the stand-to-stand medal lending machine 14
When the medals are purchased from, the purchased medals are continuously supplied through the nozzles 26 to the batch insertion slot 22 on the slot game machine 12 side one by one, and a plurality of medals corresponding to the purchase amount are played. It can be put in without touching the person.

Inside the collective insertion slot 22, as shown in FIG. 3 (when the collective insertion slot is on the left side) and FIG. 4, the collective insertion medal acceptance device 29 and the medal selection device 3 are shown.
An automatic selector 31 composed of 0 and a batch insertion medal capturing device 29 arranged on the starting end side of the automatic selector 31 is slanted downward through a drop chute 32 inside the collective insertion slot 22. The feed passage 33 and the medal separation / acquisition unit 34 are sequentially connected.

The above-mentioned oblique feed passage 33 has a conveyor belt 35 for carrying a medal M on the upper surface and conveying it in the depth direction of the apparatus main body 15, and a feeding direction of the medal M in an oblique direction with respect to the depth direction of the apparatus main body 15. In order to form a passage, it is composed of an inclined guide plate 36 which is provided on the upper surface of the conveyor belt 35 so as to be inclined by about 15 °.

The transport belt 31 is provided in the main body 1 of the apparatus in order to secure a space in the left-right direction for feeding the medal M obliquely.
A wide flat belt which is wide in the width direction of 5 is used, and the feeding direction is slightly elevated and inclined to enhance the action of promoting the dispersion of the piled medals M in the conveying process.

The tilted guide plate 36 is made up of a plurality of medals M that are collectively inserted into the collective insertion port 22 so as to communicate with the inside thereof.
The medal take-in portions up to the medal separation take-in portion 34 for taking in one by one are provided obliquely to the depth direction of the apparatus main body 15.

In this case, the width of the passage formed by the inclined guide plate 36 is wide on the start end side so as to allow a plurality of medals to be received from the batch insertion slot 22 at one time, and gradually narrower on the end side to make a rear stage. Has a circular arc guide surface for alignment, which can be smoothly conveyed and guided with a single-sheet feed width suitable for aligning and feeding the medals into the medal separating and capturing section 36, and the medals M guided therein are fed in an oblique feed direction. From conveyor belt 3
It is guided in the shape of a passage that changes the direction by going straight in the same direction as 5.

Further, in this case, a back space can be sufficiently secured when pushing back the separated medals which have been separated and not taken in after being taken in from the stacking conveyance state in the medal separating and taking-in section 34, and the medal clogging element is avoided as much as possible. Can be configured.

The above-mentioned medal separation / accepting section 34 has a separation roller 37, which rotates in the direction opposite to the feeding direction of the conveyance belt 35, on the upper surface of the conveyance belt 35 on which the medals are placed and conveyed, with one medal output interval. Are facing each other.

Further, in order to enhance the separation performance, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, the central portion in the roller axial direction has a small diameter and both sides thereof have large diameters and are formed on the outer peripheral surface of the roller. By providing the groove 38 on the outer peripheral surface of the roller in this way, as shown in FIG. 5B, when two medals M are loaded in a stack, the medals M on the upper surface side to be separated and retracted precede. The peripheral portion first corresponds to the roller outer peripheral surface in line contact, not in surface contact, and as a result, the two medals on the upper side can be accurately separated.

Further, a vibration generating roller 39, such as a hexagonal roller having a corner on the outer peripheral surface, is brought into contact with the lower surface of the conveyor belt 35 in the preceding stage of the medal separating / acquiring portion 34, and when the roller 39 rotates, the conveyor belt is rotated. Preliminary processing is performed to apply a slight vertical vibration to the 35 itself to accelerate the separation of the medals M guided in this state one by one.

Preliminary processing for promoting the separation is not limited to this, and the conveyor belt 3 immediately before the medal separation taking-in section 34 is used.
It is also possible to add an auxiliary separating mechanism such as disposing an elastic body for promoting separation on the upper side of 5.

A medal selecting device 30 is connected to the rear stage of the medal separation / acquisition unit 34 to check the adequacy of the taken medals.
Sorting is done one by one.

As shown in FIG. 6, the medal selecting device 30 has an inlet 41 having an upper surface opened and an outlet 42 opened on a lower side surface so as to be connected to the drop opening 40 of the upper medal separating / accommodating portion 34. Between the vertical passages 43a and the inclined passages 43b that are inclined more gently than the vertical passage 43a.
3, a sorting processing unit and a passage detection sensor (not shown) are provided on the medal passage 43, and the standing medals M that pass rolling are excluded from the medals that are not applicable. The acquisition process is performed, and the number of the appropriate medals M ... Is counted. In the figure, reference numeral 44 is a carry motor.

The medal taking-in operation of the medal non-contact type slot gaming machine 12 thus constructed will be described below.

First, when a player purchases a game medal, he inserts a bill corresponding to the purchase amount of a token for game use into the bill insertion slot 27 of the inter-machine token lending machine 14. When the acceptance of bills is completed, the corresponding number of purchased medals is discharged from the nozzle 26 to the batch insertion slot 22 of the slot gaming machine 12.
For example, in the case of a 1,000-yen bill, 50 medals are continuously discharged and continuously supplied from the batch insertion slot 22 through the drop chute 32.

Therefore, even if a medal is purchased, the medal can be automatically sent from the inter-machine medal lender 14 into the slot game machine 12, so that the player inserts the medals one by one. There is no need to do so, the medal can be automatically supplied, and the operation of inserting each medal can be omitted, and the operation efficiency of the player and the game serviceability can be improved. In addition, since the player does not touch the medal, the player's hand is not soiled, and a sanitary preferred game use can be achieved.

On the other hand, the plurality of medals supplied to the batch insertion slot 22 are obliquely fed and taken in along the oblique feed passage 33 communicating from the drop chute 32 to the inside thereof.
At this time, the medals M that have been thrown in at one time are guided to the medal separation / acquisition unit 34 while being gradually dispersed from the piled state in the conveying process.

By passing through the oblique feeding passage 33, the feeding force in the medal feeding direction is not directly applied immediately before the medal separating / taking-in portion 34, and a wide space in the depth direction suitable for dispersing medals can be secured. Even if the medals are continuously sent, as shown in FIG. 7, since the direction is changed from the oblique sending direction to the straight taking-in direction corresponding to the depth direction of the apparatus body 15, the sending direction and the taking-in direction are taken. Unlike the direction, the medal separating / acquiring portion 34, which separates and takes in the medals one by one, can be smoothly taken in without a feeding load.

At this time, immediately before the medal separation / accommodation portion 34, a vibration action is given along with the rotation of the vibration generating roller 39. Therefore, the medals M ... The medals M are reliably separated one by one at the position of the roller 37, and the separated medals M are guided to the medal selecting device 30 in the subsequent stage, and the medals not applicable are eliminated, and the appropriate medals are the award medal standby position or It is led to the collection line of the game hall. Further, the effective number of medals M ... Which are properly selected and taken in is counted, and the number of games is allowed according to this number.

As described above, since it is possible to construct an oblique feeding passage suitable for taking in a plurality of medals, a large taking-in space is not required inside the apparatus, and the depth direction of the apparatus body is limited to a short length. It can be realized even with a device.
In particular, since the medal take-in passage can be made long by effectively utilizing the space in the left-right direction, it is possible to improve the dispersing performance and the taking-in performance of the piled medals after they are collectively inserted.

Further, when a token-to-table token lending machine for lending medals is provided adjacent to each slot gaming machine, when the player purchases medals, the token gaming machine from the token gaming machine side to the slot gaming machine side Multiple medals can be automatically supplied to the batch insertion slot. For this reason, it is not necessary to insert medals one by one, automatic supply of medals can be performed, and the insertion operation for each medal can be omitted, and the operation efficiency of the player and the game serviceability can be improved. You can Also, since the player does not touch the medal,
The player's hands are kept clean, and hygienic and favorable game use can be achieved.

In the correspondence between the present invention and the configuration of the above-described one embodiment, the operating portion of the present invention corresponds to the front surface of the slot gaming machine 12 of the embodiment, and hereinafter, the coin is the medal M. Corresponding to, the batch insertion coin capture device,
Corresponding to the batch-inserted medal take-in device 29, the tilt guide member corresponds to the tilt guide plate 36, the preprocessing means corresponds to the vibration generating roller 39, the coin sorting device corresponds to the medal sorting device 30, and the medium. The insertion slot is a bill insertion slot 27
Corresponding to, the coin lending machine corresponds to the inter-machine medal lending machine 14, but the present invention can be applied based on the technical idea shown in the claims, and is limited to only the configuration of one embodiment described above. It is not something that will be done.

[0049]

According to the present invention, by providing an oblique feed passage inward of the batch insertion slot, the feed load is eliminated and the separating performance at the time of coin taking-in is improved, and the coin jamming element is eliminated as much as possible. You can take in one by one smoothly. In addition, it can be realized even with a device in which the depth direction of the device main body is restricted to be short, and because the take-in passage can be made longer by the diagonal feed passage, the dispersion performance and the take-up performance of piled coins after batch insertion can be improved. You can

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing an installed state of a slot game machine.

FIG. 2 is an external perspective view showing a slot gaming machine and an inter-machine token lending machine.

FIG. 3 is an external perspective view showing an automatic selector.

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional side view showing the internal configuration of the automatic selector.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a separation state of medals of a separation roller.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing a medal passage of a medal selecting device.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of an essential part showing a medal feeding state of an oblique feeding path.

[Explanation of symbols]

12 ... Slot game machine 14 ... Stand medal lending machine 15 ... Device body 22 ... Batch input port 26 ... Nozzle 29 ... Batch input medal capturing device 33 ... Diagonal feed passage 34 ... Separate medal capturing section M ... Medal

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Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A batch insertion slot for allowing a plurality of coins to be inserted in a batch on a front operation section, and a plurality of coins that are collectively inserted and communicated inward from the batch insertion slot, one by one. A batch insertion coin taking-in device, characterized in that an oblique feeding passage is provided which is long in an oblique direction with respect to a depth direction of a main body of the device, up to a coin taking-in part which is taken in separately. 2. A conveyor belt for carrying a coin on an upper surface and conveying the coin in a depth direction of the apparatus main body, and a feeding direction of the coin long in an oblique direction with respect to a depth direction of the apparatus main body. The batch-insertion coin take-in device according to claim 1, wherein the take-in coin take-up device comprises an inclined guide member provided on the upper surface of the conveyor belt. 3. The coin separating and taking-in unit is provided on the upper surface of a conveyor belt on which coins are placed and conveyed, and a separating roller which rotates in a direction opposite to the feeding direction of the conveyor belt is provided at an interval for feeding one coin. 3. The batch insertion coin taking-in device according to claim 1, wherein the separating roller has an outer peripheral surface provided in a concave groove. 4. The batch-insertion coin take-in device according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein a pre-processing means for applying a separating force to the coins in the overlap-conveyed state is provided in the preceding stage of the coin separating and taking-in part. 5. The batch-inserted coin taking-in device according to claim 4, wherein the pre-processing means has a vibration generating roller having a corner on the outer peripheral surface thereof, which is in contact with the lower surface of the conveyor belt. 6. A batch insertion slot for allowing a plurality of coins to be inserted in a batch on a front operation section, and a plurality of coins that are collectively inserted and communicated inward from the batch insertion slot, one coin at a time. A coin insertion coin take-in device having an oblique feed passage that is long in an oblique direction with respect to the depth direction of the apparatus main body between the coin take-in parts up to the separation take-in part; An automatic selector, which is connected to a subsequent stage of the take-in device and has a coin sorter for sorting the suitability of the coins taken in by the batch insertion coin take-in device one by one. 7. A slot game machine provided with the automatic selector according to claim 6. 8. A medium insertion slot for accepting cash or valuable media, and a coin lending machine for lending coins corresponding to the amount value information of the medium from a nozzle when the cash or valuable medium is inserted into the medium insertion slot. 8. The slot game machine according to claim 7, wherein a machine is provided adjacent to the coin lending machine, and the nozzle of the coin lending machine is provided so as to be allowed to be connected to a batch insertion opening opened on the front surface of the apparatus body.