JPH0268B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a ball hitting device for a pinball game machine, and more particularly to a ball hitting device for a pinball game machine that includes an electric ball hitting mechanism that hits balls electrically.

Among the ball hitting devices for this type of pinball game machine, there is one shown in FIG. 1, for example, which has been generally known in the past. In the figure, the ball-hitting handle 11 has a scale part 112 formed on the outer periphery of a grip part 111 to indicate the strength of the ball, and an operation lever 1 for adjusting the strength of the ball to correspond to the scale part 112.
13 is rotatably provided. This ball hitting handle 11 is fixed to a front panel (not shown) of the pinball game machine by a support member 12. The operating lever 113 is
It is connected to one end of a shaft 113 that is pivotally supported by the support member 12 . A semicircular adjustment plate 132 is fixed to the other end (tip) of the shaft 131. One end of a wire 135 is connected to the wire connecting portion 133 of the adjustment plate 132, and the wire 135 is connected to the lower end of the connecting lever 136 via a roller 134. A pin 13 is attached to the upper end of the connecting lever 136.
7 is formed, and by engaging the pin 137 with one of a plurality of through holes formed in the longitudinal direction of the spring adjusting plate 138, the spring 13
The strength of 9 is adjusted. One end of the spring 139 is connected to the end of the spring adjustment plate 138, and the other end is connected to a fixture 142 formed integrally with the ball hitting rod 141. The ball hitting rod 141 is rotatably supported by a support member 143. Mounting tool 142
A pin 144 is formed in the pin 144, which becomes engaged with or released from the ball hitting cam 161 when pressed by or released from the arc-shaped portion of the ball hitting cam 161, which will be described later.

A cam 151 is formed on the peripheral wall at the center of the connecting lever 136, and the switch 15 is disposed in contact with the cam. This switch 15 is
When the operating lever 113 is operated to adjust the hitting strength, the cam 15 is rotated as the connecting lever 136 is rotated.
When the cam 1 rotates, it is pressed by the outer peripheral protrusion of the cam 151 to operate, and an operating signal is derived as a batting command signal. In addition, switch 1
As other examples in place of 5, for example, a switch 15' may be provided on the front of the gaming machine, or a protrusion that is activated by pressure may be formed on a part of the outer periphery of the operating handle 11. Some have a switch that activates them.

The ball hitting cam 161 is fixed to a rotating shaft (or a variable speed shaft) of the ball hitting motor 16 for electrically driving the ball hitting rod 141 . The motor 16 is supplied with power and rotated by the operation of the switch 15. At this time, since the ball hitting cam 161 is rotationally driven in the direction of arrow a by the rotational drive of the motor 16, the arc-shaped portion of the ball hitting cam 161 moves the pin 144 in the direction of arrow b (lower left direction).
and pull the batting rod 141 in the direction of arrow c,
Furthermore, when the engagement state between the arcuate portion and the pin 144 is released due to rotation of the ball hitting cam 161, the ball hitting rod 1
41 is pulled in a direction opposite to the direction of arrow c by the tension of spring 139. In this way, the batting rod 141 is biased by the tension of the spring 139,
This involves hitting a pachinko ball that has been guided to the ball hitting position.

In the above-mentioned electric ball hitting mechanism, when there is no player present, the wire 135 is pulled in the opposite direction to the arrow f direction by the contracting force of the spring 139, so that the position of the operating lever 113 is adjusted so that the ball is hit hard. It is set to be the weakest position. When adjusting the hitting strength, when the operating lever 113 is rotated in the direction of the arrow d, the adjustment plate 132 is rotated in the direction of the arrow e, pulling the wire 135 in the direction of the arrow f, and the connecting lever 136 is rotated. By rotating the spring 139 in the direction of the arrow g and pulling the spring 139 in the direction of the arrow h, the spring 139 works to increase the strength with which it pulls the ball hitting rod 141.

However, in the conventional electric ball hitting mechanism, in a normal state (that is, a state in which the player does not perform a ball hitting operation), the position of the operating lever 113 is set to the 0 position on the scale by the contracting force of the spring 139 so that the ball hitting strength is the weakest. Because it is configured to restore up to
As soon as the player turns the operating lever 113 a little, he starts hitting the pachinko ball relatively weakly. In this way, if you start hitting a pachinko ball while the hitting force is weaker than the strength required to launch the pachinko ball to the top of the game board, the fired pachinko ball will end up in the ball guide rail of the game board. There was a problem in that the balls that were returned and subsequently hit one after another hit the pachinko balls that returned within the shot ball guide rail, causing them to become jammed in a row. In this way, if the number of pachinko balls that are hit with the batting stick but not hit the game board is relatively small, they will be paid out from the prize ball payout port to the prize ball tray, so It's not a problem. However, if the ball is hit continuously even if the hitting force is weak, such as an electric ball hitting mechanism, there is a problem in that the ball becomes chained in the ball guide rail, making the game impossible.

In view of the above circumstances, the present invention provides a ball hitting machine for a pinball game machine that can hit the ball with an appropriate force that can sufficiently drive the ball into the game board even in the normal state where the player is not performing the ball hitting operation. The purpose is to provide equipment.

A ball hitting device for a pinball game machine according to the present invention, which has been made to achieve such an object, includes: an electric ball hitting mechanism that includes a ball hitting force imparting means that applies a hitting force to a batted ball; an operating section capable of changing and adjusting the batting strength by the force applying means, and the operating section is set in advance so that the operating position thereof is approximately in the middle of the batting strength adjustment range in a normal state where no batting operation is being performed. The ball hitting force imparting means is set in advance to have a ball hitting force sufficient to launch a ball into the game board at the set position of the operating section in the normal state, and The device is characterized in that the strength of the ball is increased by operating the operating portion in the forward direction, and the strength of the ball is decreased by operating the operating portion in the opposite direction.

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 2C are illustrative views of a ball hitting device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and in particular, FIG. 2A shows a plan view of the ball hitting device, and FIG. 2B shows a plan view of the ball hitting device as seen from the game board side. A front view of the ball hitting device is shown, and FIG. 2C is a front view of the ball hitting device viewed from the back side of the game board.
In the figure, the operating handle (operating portion) 21 of this embodiment has a scale 212 drawn on the outer periphery of the grip portion 211, and an operating lever 213 is provided so as to be slidable on the outer periphery of the grip portion 211. This scale part 212
, a scale (for example, a △ mark or 0) representing approximately the middle of the range in which the batting strength can be adjusted is drawn when the operating lever 213 is in its normal state (that is, when the player does not operate it); A scale (for example, +1, +2, ...) indicating that the strength of the ball becomes stronger is drawn in the position indicated in the direction in which the operating lever 213 is rotated to the left. A scale (for example, -1, -2, . . . ) representing a weakening of the strength is drawn.
This grip portion 211 is fixed to the lower front surface of the gaming machine main body. Further, a pressing portion of a ball hitting switch 214 is formed on the outer periphery of the grip portion 211. The adjustment plate 22 is connected to the operating lever 213 so as to move in conjunction with the rotation of the operating lever 213.
This adjustment plate 22 is connected to a pulley 241 with screws. The wire 25 is hung around the outer periphery of the pulley 241 only half the way around it. In addition,
If necessary, the wire holding pulley 242 is attached to the pulley 24 to prevent the wire 25 from coming off.
It is arranged so as to press down the wire 25 hung on the wire 1. One end of the wire 25 is wound in a U-shape around the pulley 26 and connected to one end of a spring 271, and the other end of the spring 271 is formed on the side surface of the ball hitting rod 28, which is an example of a ball hitting force imparting means. protrusion 281
is engaged with.

On the other hand, the other end of the wire 25 is connected to one end of a spring 272, and the other end of the spring 272 is connected to the support member 23.
It is connected to a fixing part 29 fixed to. This fixing part 29 fixes a hook 291 to the support member 23, inserts a pre-threaded rod 292 into a through hole formed in the hook 291, and then tightens the nut 2.
The strength of the spring 272 can be adjusted by adjusting the screwing state of the spring 272 and the rod 291. And Rod 292 and Natsu 293
Adjustment of the threaded state with the ball batting rod 2 is carried out when the operating lever 213 is not rotated (normal state).
8 is played so that the strength of the ball hit is approximately medium.

The ball hitting rod 28 is rotatably supported by a support member 282 at a position slightly below the center in the longitudinal direction, and forms a spring-like ball hitting rod at the tip thereof, and has a portion supported by the support member 282. A lever 284 is fixedly attached to the lever 284. A pin or roller 285 is attached to the tip of this lever 284. The arcuate portion of the blade-shaped ball hitting cam 161 fixed to the rotating shaft (or the shaft with variable speed) of the ball hitting motor 16 is provided so as to face the pin 285 .

Then, when the player presses the ball hitting switch 214, the ball hitting motor 16 is rotationally driven to rotate the ball hitting cam 161, and the arc-shaped portion of the ball hitting cam 161 pushes down the pin 285 in the direction of arrow x, causing the ball to be hit. Pull the rod 28 in the direction of the arrow y. When the ball hitting cam 161 is further rotated and the engagement between the arcuate portion and the pin 285 is disengaged, the ball hitting cam 28 is pulled in the direction opposite to the arrow y by the tension of the spring 271.
The pachinko ball is hit with that pulling force. At this time, if the player presses the ball hitting switch 214 in the normal state without operating the operating lever 213, the tension between the springs 271 and 272 is balanced, so the player can play pachinko with approximately medium strength. hit the ball. For this reason, the pachinko ball is hit with a moderate force and is ejected to approximately the center of the upper part of the game board.

By the way, when the player wants to increase the strength of the ball hit, when the player rotates the operating lever 213 to the right, the pulley 241 rotates to increase the tension of the spring 271 connected to the ball hitting rod 28 and reduce the tension of the spring 272. Since it acts to weaken the ball, the strength of the ball is strengthened. Conversely, when the player rotates the operating lever 213 to the left, the pulley 241 rotates to weaken the tension of the spring 271 and increase the tension of the spring 272, thereby weakening the strength of the ball hit.

In this way, the spring 2 is adjusted so that when the operating lever 213 is not operated, the ball hitting strength is the desired ball hitting strength required to drive the pachinko ball into the game board.
By applying a balanced tension between the pachinko ball 71 and the spring 272, when the player presses the ball hitting switch 214, it is possible to immediately hit the pachinko ball with the appropriate hitting force necessary to drive the ball into the game board. There are advantages. For this reason, as in the past, before adjusting the operating lever to the required ball hitting strength, the pachinko ball is hit with a relatively weak and undesired hitting strength, and the pachinko ball is launched into the game board. This has the advantage that balls can be prevented from going backwards from the middle of the ball guide rail and becoming jammed. Therefore, the player can effectively hit the pachinko balls.

FIG. 3 is an illustrative view of a ball hitting device according to another embodiment of the present invention, and in particular is an improved version of the ball hitting mechanism shown in FIG. 1 described above. In this embodiment, a wire 31 is connected to the side 132 of the adjustment plate 282 to which the wire 135 is not connected, and the wire is connected to one end of the spring 33 via rollers 321 and 322, and the other end of the spring 33 is connected to the other end of the spring 33. The end is supported by a hook 35 via a rod 34. As a result, even when the operation lever 113 is not rotated, the adjustment plate 132 is rotated in the direction of the arrow by the tension of the spring 33, so that the spring 1
39 is also pulled, and the tensions of spring 33 and spring 139 are balanced. Therefore, the ball hitting rod 141 is constantly subjected to a tensile force necessary to drive the pachinko ball into the game board, and as a result, compared to the conventional ball hitting device as shown in FIG. Even when the operating lever 113 is not operated, sufficient hitting strength can be obtained for hitting a pachinko ball into the game board, and it is possible to obtain sufficient hitting strength to hit the pachinko ball into the game board. This has the advantage of being able to hit a pachinko ball with a desired relatively weak hitting force and to prevent the hit pachinko ball from returning inside the shot ball guide rail.

As described above, according to the present invention, the ball is hit with sufficient strength to launch the ball into the game board in the normal state in which the operating member for adjusting the ball hitting strength is not operated. Since the ball hitting strength of the force applying means is uniformly set in advance, the ball can be uniformly hit with an appropriate strength even in a transient state where the player has not yet adjusted the ball hitting strength to the desired strength. Moreover, in the normal state, the operation part of the ball hitting mechanism is set to be approximately in the middle of the adjustment range, and from that setting position, the player can rotate the ball in the forward direction to increase the hitting force, and in the opposite direction. By rotating the ball, it is possible to reduce the hitting strength, and by making fine adjustments based on the uniformly set strength, it is possible to make individual adjustments to suit individual players.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an illustrative diagram of a conventional ball hitting device. Second
Figures A, 2B, and 2C are illustrative views of a ball hitting device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is an illustrative view of another embodiment of the invention. In the figure, 21 is an operating handle, 213 is an operating lever, 22 is an adjustment plate, 241 is a batting strength adjustment pulley, 25 is a wire, 271, 272,
139 and 33 are springs, and 28 is a batting rod.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. In a ball hitting device for a pinball game machine that includes an electric ball hitting mechanism that hits a ball electrically, the electric ball hitting mechanism includes a ball hitting force applying means that applies a hitting force to the ball. , an operating section capable of changing and adjusting the batting strength of the batting force imparting means by a player's operation, and the operating section is configured to adjust the batting strength approximately in the middle of the batting strength adjustment range in a normal state in which no batting operation is being performed. The operation position is set in advance so that the ball hits the ball into the game board at the set position of the operating section in the normal state, and the ball hitting force imparting means is set in advance so that the ball hitting force is sufficient to fire the ball into the game board at the set position of the operating section in the normal state. and is configured such that operating the operating section in the forward direction increases the ball hitting strength and operating the operating section in the opposite direction decreases the ball hitting strength, Ball hitting device for pinball game machines.