JPH0328231B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to an electric ball hitting device for a pachinko machine.

(Prior Art) In an electric pachinko machine, a solenoid is used to hit the balls, and the ball hitting force must be freely adjustable by the player.

A conventional method for adjusting the batting force is to adjust the current supplied to the solenoid, and a specific method for this is for the player to adjust a variable resistor connected in series with the solenoid by operating a handle. There is something. There is also a type that connects a power transistor in series with the solenoid, and adjusts the base current with a variable resistor that is operated by a handle.

(Problem to be solved by the invention) In the case where the current supplied to the solenoid is directly adjusted by a variable resistor, the power supplied to the solenoid is adjusted by consuming power by the variable resistor, which is wasteful. Not only does it consume a lot of power, but it also generates a lot of heat from the variable resistor, which has the disadvantage of requiring a large variable resistor. In addition, in the case of using a power transistor, there is no problem of heat generation in the variable resistor or increase in size of the variable resistor, but since power is consumed in the power transistor, power loss and heat generation there are still problems.

(Means for Solving the Problem) In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the present invention steps the current supplied to the solenoid at a relatively high frequency using a switching element such as a transistor or a thyristor, and changes its duty ratio or period. At least one of the above can be adjusted by operating the handle.

(Function) The solenoid that is supplied with the tapped current generates a batting force according to the average value of the current, but since this average value increases or decreases depending on the duty ratio and cycle, the player can control the duty by operating the handle. By adjusting at least one of the ratio and the period, the ball hitting force can be adjusted. Because the solenoid has a large inductance, it takes time for the current to rise after switching, but when performing chopping, the current and voltage are directly applied to the solenoid without being dropped by a resistor, etc., so the rise time is short. Therefore, the impact force generated by the solenoid becomes larger when the average current is the same, compared to when no chopping is performed.
The effective force for hitting a ball is not an average value but an impact force, so even if the same average current is passed through the same solenoid, a large hitting force can be obtained when the ball is tipped.

(Example) FIG. 1 shows an example of the present invention. 1
is a rotary solenoid that drives a ball batting rod (not shown) of a pachinko machine, and is connected in series with a transistor 2 as a switching element and then connected to a direct current 3. The transistor 2 is turned on and off by a pulsed base current supplied from the AND gate 4. 5 is 100 per minute
This is the first oscillator for determining the batting cycle, which is regulated by law to be less than or equal to 100 pulses per minute. Generate a low frequency signal and use it as a gate signal,
It is applied to one input terminal of AND gate 4. 7 is a second oscillator that determines the chopping period;
Compared to the first oscillator 5, it oscillates at a much higher frequency. The output of the second oscillator 7 is input to a duty ratio determining circuit 8, which provides a rectangular wave signal with a duty ratio specified by a handle 9 to the other input terminal of the AND gate 4.

FIG. 2 shows the operation of the circuit. When the on/off switch 6 is turned on, the first oscillator 5 oscillates, rising at times T ₀ , T ₂ . . . and starting at time T ₁ .
Since the low frequency signal c that falls at times t ₀ , t ₂ , t _{4 .} . . and falls at times t ₁ , t ₃ , t ₅ . and gives output signal a to the base of transistor 2. As a result, transistor 2
During T ₀ to T ₁ , it becomes conductive while being stopped at a period of t (=t ₂ −t ₀ ), and becomes completely non-conductive during time T ₁ to _{T 2} . One ball is hit during one period between times T ₀ and T ₂ , and this process is repeated thereafter. FIG. 2A shows the change in the current i ₁ flowing through the rotary solenoid 1 within one cycle, and B shows the change in the terminal voltage v ₁ . The current i ₁ has a sawtooth shape due to the stepping action, but its average value is made to be approximately equal to the current i ₁ when no stepping is performed. In the conventional type that does not perform chopping, in order to flow the current i ₁ , the terminal voltage v ₂ of the rotary solenoid 1 is changed to the power supply voltage V ₁
However, in the present invention which performs chopping, _{the terminal voltage v 1 is} lower than the supply voltage.
V remains at ₁ . i ₁ ' represents the current value when it is assumed that this power supply voltage V ₁ is applied to the rotary solenoid 1 without being tripped, and it rises extremely quickly. Therefore,
The rise time for obtaining the same average current is faster for i ₁ that performs chopping than for i ₂ that does not perform chopping. This is important in a ball hitting device that requires impact force, and the present invention, which has a quick start-up, produces a stronger impact force than the conventional rotary solenoid, which has a slow start-up even when the same average current is passed through the same rotary solenoid. This means that it is possible to give Therefore, the same impact force (hitting force)
To obtain this, the rotary solenoid can be made smaller.

As the duty ratio determination circuit 8, a monostable multivibrator can be used as an example.
That is, the period t of the stepping signal b is determined by the second oscillator 7, but the pulse width (t ₁ −t ₀ ),
(t ₃ −t ₂ )... is determined by the metastable period of the monostable multivibrator. This monostable period can be adjusted by making the resistance constituting the time constant circuit variable, and is operated by the solenoid 9.

FIG. 3 shows changes in the average value I of the current i ₁ flowing through the rotary solenoid 1 when the duty ratio is changed. From the state shown in Figure B, if the duty ratio is decreased as shown in Figure A while leaving the power supply voltage V ₁ unchanged, the average value of the current will decrease from I ₂ to I ₁ . This means that the batting power becomes correspondingly weaker. Similarly, in diagram C, as the duty ratio increases, the average value I ₃ increases and the hitting force becomes stronger.

When adjusting the duty ratio as described above, only the on and off periods of transistor 2 are changed, and no power is consumed by transistor 2, so there is no power loss and no associated heat generation. . Further, since the variable resistor for duty ratio adjustment does not need to consume power, it may be small.

The average current of the rotary solenoid 1 remains unchanged up to the duty ratio of chopping, changes even when the frequency is changed, and decreases as the cycle becomes shorter. Of course, if the duty ratio is also changed on top of that, both changes will be superimposed. Therefore, to adjust the batting force, the oscillation frequency of the second oscillator 7 may be changed, or a frequency divider may be provided following the oscillation frequency and the frequency division ratio may be adjusted. Ratio adjustment means may also be used.

(Effects) As described above, the present invention adjusts the average current value by stepping the current flowing through the ball hitting solenoid and adjusting at least one of its duty ratio or period, thereby adjusting the ball hitting force.
There is no need to cause power loss. Therefore, power can be saved and heat generation is eliminated, so that the cooling efficiency of the game hall is increased. Furthermore, a small variable resistor can be used to adjust the hitting force. Furthermore, as a result of the solenoid's energizing current rising faster, the impact force as a hitting force increases, efficiency increases, and a smaller solenoid can be used accordingly, resulting in less power consumption.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a system diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a graph showing voltage and current waveforms due to chopping in comparison with those not caused by chopping, and Fig. 3 is a graph showing the average waveforms as the duty ratio changes. It is a graph showing changes in current. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1...Rotary solenoid, 2...Transistor (switching element), 7...Second oscillator, 8...Duty ratio determination circuit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A switching element is connected to the energizing circuit of a solenoid that drives a ball batting rod, and the switching element is controlled to tip at a cycle faster than the batting cycle, and at least one of the duty ratio or the cycle of the tipping can be adjusted. A ball hitting device for a pachinko machine that is characterized by: