JPH03292979A - Ball launcher of motorized pinball machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To certainly detect the fact that a player grips a ball-launching handle, to allow a pinball machine to stably launch balls without mal-functioning by detecting a resonance electric current that flows through a resonance circuit in which a pair of touch electrodes and a resonance coil are inserted in parallel. CONSTITUTION:When a player grips a ball launching handle, the electrostatic capacity between touch electrodes (a) and (b) increases due to the electrostatic capacity of a human body. When the resonance frequency determined by the capacity between the touch electrodes and a resonance coil 39 coincides with the oscillation frequency output from a first oscillation circuit 33, a large resonance electric current flows through a resonance circuit 34 so that the output level from an output terminal of an electric current level detecting circuit 35 is changed from 'L' to 'H' level, and the output is input to an input terminal of an AND circuit 37. A clock signal with a constant cycle is output from a second oscillation circuit 36 to the other input terminal of the AND circuit 37, and pulse signals, which turn on and off repeatedly synchronizing with the constant cycle clock signals that are output from the circuit 38, are transmitted to a dividing circuit 38.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a ball launcher for an electric pachinko machine, and its purpose is to detect and detect when a player is touching the ball handle. The present invention relates to a batted ball firing device for an electric pachinko machine that includes a touch switch circuit that sends an output signal to a controller to control the driving of the batted ball firing device.

[Conventional technology]

Generally, the ball launcher of an electric pachinko machine has a built-in touch switch circuit that intermittently energizes a solenoid to automatically hit a pachinko ball only when the player is touching the ball handle. There is. Since the firing cycle of the batted balls is stipulated by law to be within 100 times/minute, the number of times pachinko balls are fired is constant.

FIG. 5 shows a conventional touch switch circuit 10 incorporated in a batted ball launcher, and its schematic configuration is such that when a player's hand comes into contact with a sensitive part 11 provided on a batting ball handle (not shown), An input end of a touch switch circuit IO which detects the clock signal and sends out the clock signal as a touch signal is connected to the input end of the touch switch circuit IO, and an output end Q which divides the frequency of the clock signal is connected to the output end of the touch switch circuit IO.

A pulse signal of a constant period (for example, 100 times/
) is connected to the input terminal of the frequency dividing circuit 12 which sends out
The output terminal of the frequency dividing circuit 12 is connected to the base of a switching element 4 consisting of a transistor in which a coil X of a solenoid 3 is inserted in series between a DC power source (not shown) and circuit ground, and the output terminal Q of the frequency dividing circuit 12 is The pulse signals sent from ,,Q, have the same period and pulse width of Q,>Q.
, and when the player grasps the ball hitting handle, the output terminal Q1 of the frequency dividing circuit 12 that receives the touch signal
The switching element 4 is activated by a pulse signal sent from the switching element 4.
The solenoid 3 is controlled on and off, and the coil There is.

Next, to explain the configuration of the touch switch circuit 10 in more detail, the touch switch circuit IO includes a tour circuit N to a sensitive part 11 provided exposed on the circumferential surface of a ball batting handle (not shown).
A first RS latch circuit LC consisting of OR, and NOR,
At the same time, the output terminal of a square wave oscillation circuit O8C consisting of a crystal oscillator etc. is connected via a resistor R1, and the output terminal of this oscillation circuit oSC is connected to an integrating circuit consisting of a resistor R2 and a capacitor CI. The output terminal Q of the latch circuit LCI is connected to the reset input terminal R of the latch circuit LC+ through the tour circuit N0R2 and N0R via an integrating circuit consisting of a resistor R3 and a capacitor C2.
The output terminal Q of this latch circuit LC2 is connected to one of the input terminals of an AND circuit AND, and the other input terminal is connected to the set input terminal S of a second RS latch circuit LC. Connect the output end of O3C and connect the frequency divider circuit 12.
The output terminal Q2 of the latch circuit L is the reset input terminal R of C2.
and connect the integral time constant of the resistor R1 and capacitor C1 to the human body capacitance Cm (approximately 200 to 500 PF) formed when the player grips a ball batting nozzle (not shown).
and the integral time constant of the resistor R2 and the capacitor C2 are selected to be smaller than the integral time constant of the human body capacitance Cm and the resistor R1, and the integral time constant of the capacitor C2.
1 and the integral time constant of resistor R2 (C2
・Rs >>Cm-R+ -CI'R2).

And now, the output signal of latch circuit LC,,LC,
When the control power supply (not shown) is supplied to each circuit while the capacitor C2C5 is not charged, the latch circuit becomes L at the rising edge of the clock signal of the oscillation circuit O3C.
C, is set, and the output signal at the output terminal Q is inverted to the "H" level, charged through the capacitor C3 or resistor R2, and the potential begins to rise, or this potential reaches the threshold level of the tour circuit N0R4. before reaching
The reset input terminal R of the latch circuit LC is also capacitor C3.
The time constant of ClR2 is charged through the resistor R2, and the potential rises, reaching the threshold of the tour circuit NOR2, and the latch circuit LC is reset, and the output of its output terminal Q becomes the "H level". Therefore, the clock signal of the oscillation circuit O8C is sent to the AND circuit AND, but its output is at "H" level, so the touch signal is not set. It is not sent to the circuit 12, and as a result, the switching element 4 remains off and the solenoid 3 is not energized.

That is, this phenomenon indicates a state in which the player is not holding the ball hitting handle, and in this state, no hitting force is applied to the pachinko ball.

Next, when the player grasps the ball batting handle in the above state, the electrostatic capacitance Cm of the human body is connected between the sensitive part 11 and the earth, so this electrostatic capacitance Cm and the resistance R1 are integrated. A circuit is formed, and since the integration circuits connected to the set and reset input terminals S and R of the latch circuit LC have a time constant of Cm-R>C4.R3, when the clock signal is applied, The potential at the reset input terminal R rises earlier than the other, reaches the threshold level of the tour circuit NOR2, becomes "H" level, and the launch circuit LC is reset, and its output signal goes to the "H" level. It remains as it is. Next, the output signal of the latch circuit LC1 is held at the "L" level until the set input terminal S becomes "H" level. Then, by inverting the clock signal to "L" level, the capacitance Cm and the capacitor C1
are discharged through the resistors R+Rx, respectively. Since the time constants have the above-mentioned relationship, the potential of the reset input terminal R falls first and reaches the threshold level of the tour circuit N0R2, and the output of the latch circuit LC1. The signal is “H”
” level (at this time, the set input terminal S is “H”)
level. In other words, it is detected that the player is holding the ball hitting handle).

This "H" level output signal charges the capacitor C1 through the resistor R3 and raises the potential. When this reaches the threshold level of the tour circuit NOR, the latch circuit LC is set and its output signal becomes "H". It is inverted to the level and is sent to the frequency divider circuit 12 by ANDing this and the clock signal of the oscillation circuit QSC, that is, as the clock signal.The frequency divider circuit 12 receives this.
divides the input clock signal and sends a square wave pulse signal from the output end Q to the base of the switching element 4, controls it on and off, and intermittently energizes the solenoid 3 to spin the pachinko balls. to strike. The frequency dividing circuit 12 also has an output terminal Q in synchronization with the rise of the pulse signal at the output terminal Q.
2, a narrow pulse signal is sent as a reset signal to the reset input terminal R of the latch circuit LC2, the latch circuit LC2 is once reset, and if the operation of the ball batting handle continues, the latch circuit LC, is set, the same operation as described above is repeated, the switching element 4 is turned on at regular intervals by the pulse signal of the frequency dividing circuit 12, and the solenoid 3 is energized, for example, at a rate of 100 times per minute. The device is configured to hit a pachinko ball.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

In the touch switch circuit configured as described above, when the ball hitting handle is grasped, a capacitance is connected between the sensing portion provided on the ball hitting handle and the ground through the human body. That is, since the touch signal is sent to the frequency dividing circuit 12 using the capacitance generated between the human body and the ground, it is possible to detect the state of the floor in the game hall during sunny or rainy days, for example. If the insulation between the human body and the ground becomes significantly poor due to the type of player's footwear, etc., the capacitance may change, and a touch signal may not be sent even when the player grasps the ball-hitting handle.
Alternatively, the ball may be sent out intermittently and lack stability, making it difficult to accurately detect the operation of the ball batting handle.

In addition, the means for detecting whether or not the player is holding the ball-striking handle has a circuit configuration that uses two integral circuits provided at both input ends of the RS latch circuit to determine whether the player is holding the ball-striking handle or not. Although there is not a big difference in the capacitance of the human body when it is gripped, there are some variations, so if you try to adjust this, you will inevitably have to narrow the adjustment range, and the setting of the integral time constant and Adjustment becomes difficult, and the threshold level of the tour circuit that forms the RS latch circuit also varies among components.
Adjusting the detection sensitivity is difficult and time-consuming, and
Due to these, there is also a problem that the first latch circuit memorizes the previous state and induces malfunction.

In view of the above-mentioned problems, the present invention is an electric pachinko machine that can accurately detect when a player grasps the ball-hitting handle and shoot a pachinko ball in a stable state without causing any malfunction. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a ball launcher.

[Means to solve the problem]

The present invention provides a first oscillation circuit that outputs a square wave clock signal at a constant cycle, a resonant circuit that includes a pair of touch electrodes and a resonant coil and is connected in series to the oscillation circuit, and a current that flows through the resonant circuit. Current level detection that detects the level of the detected current and compares the voltage value of the detected current with a preset reference voltage value, and outputs an "H" level signal when the level of the detected current exceeds the reference level. The output end of a second oscillation circuit that outputs a clock signal of a constant period is connected to one of the circuits and the input end, and the output end of the current level detection circuit is connected to the other end, and a frequency dividing circuit is connected to the output end side. The pulse signal from the AND circuit connected to the input terminal of is used as a touch signal to send a rectangular wave pulse signal to the switching element at a constant period, and this is controlled on and off to control the solenoid intermittently. This circuit constitutes a touch switch circuit in a ball firing device of an electric pachinko machine, and its operation is as follows.

[For production]

According to the present invention, when the player is not holding a ball batting handle with a built-in touch electrode, the capacitance between the touch electrodes is minimal because only the dielectric constant of air exists, and the capacitance between the touch electrodes is minimal. Since there is a large difference between the resonant frequency determined by the capacitance and the resonant coil and the oscillation frequency from the first oscillation circuit, very little resonant current flows through the resonant circuit, so the output from the current level detection circuit is “L”. “
level, and the pulse signal is not sent out from the frequency divider circuit. As a result, the switching element remains off, the solenoid is not energized, and no hitting force is applied to the pachinko ball. However, when the player grasps the ball-hitting handle, the capacitance between the touch electrodes or the capacitance of the human body increases, and the resonance frequency determined by the capacitance between the touch electrodes and the resonant coil increases. When the oscillation frequency matches or is close to the oscillation frequency output from the
A large resonant current flows through the resonant circuit, changing the output from the output terminal of the current level detection circuit from the "L" level to the "H" level (detecting contact with the player or the batting handle), and this output Since one input terminal of the AND circuit is inputted, and the other input terminal is inputted with a clock signal of a constant period output from the second oscillation circuit, the second oscillation circuit is always inputted from the output terminal of the AND circuit. It repeats on and off in synchronization with a constant period clock signal output from the oscillation circuit, and is sent to the frequency dividing circuit as the on/off pulse signal or touch signal, and the frequency dividing circuit receives the pulse from the AND circuit. The signal is frequency-divided and a square wave pulse signal is sent from the output end to a switching element, which is controlled on and off, and a solenoid is intermittently energized to hit the pachinko ball. Detection of whether or not the ball-hitting handle is gripped, that is, detection of the human body, uses capacitance between a pair of electrodes, making it possible to increase detection sensitivity without being affected by weather or the indoor environment of the playground. It is possible to reliably improve the detection sensitivity, and there is no need to adjust the detection sensitivity.Furthermore, since changes in capacitance between the touch electrodes are used, the child can be brought close to the touch electrodes without directly touching them. As a result, a pair of touch electrodes can be placed inside the ball-striking handle without having to provide a metal sensing part to connect the touch electrode to the ball-striking handle, or exposing the electrodes themselves to the periphery of the ball-striking handle. Since it can be embedded in the ball, the degree of freedom in the design of the ball batting handle is increased, and
It has the characteristics of being easy to manufacture.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4.

In Figures 1 and 2, 21 is an electric pachinko machine;
22 is the board surface, 23 is a ball guide, 24 is a ball launcher, and 25 is a board of the ball launcher 24, which is attached to the base frame of the pachinko machine 21. 26 is a solenoid for hitting a pachinko ball attached to the base plate 25; 27 is a ball hitting handle attached to a rotating shaft (not shown) that is rotatably provided on the base plate 25 and protrudes from the front side of the pachinko machine 21; 28 is a solenoid 26; The batting rod connected to the rotating shaft, 29 is the board surface 22
The pachinko ball is set at the launch position, and is provided within the rotation locus of the batting rod 28. Next, the circuit configuration of the touch switch circuit 31 that drives and controls the batted ball firing device 24 will be explained with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 3, the touch switch circuit 31 is roughly divided into a power supply circuit 32, a first oscillation circuit 33, a resonance circuit 34, a current level detection circuit 35, a second oscillation circuit 36, and an ant circuit. 37 and division times! g38.

Next, the configuration of each of the circuits will be explained.

First, the power supply circuit 32 uses two types of constant voltage power supplies VC, which step down the commercial power supply to a predetermined voltage and perform aftereffect rectification to make the voltage constant.
c. VDD is outputted and supplied as a power source for operating each of the circuits 33 to 39 and the solenoid 26.

The first oscillation circuit 33 is composed of a crystal oscillator or the like that outputs a square wave, and sends out a square wave clock signal at a constant cycle to a resonant circuit 34, which will be described later.

Next, the resonant circuit 34 includes a pair of touch electrodes (a) embedded within the ball-hitting handle 27 with a predetermined interval maintained therebetween.

b and a resonant coil 39 are inserted and connected in series, one touch electrode a is connected to one output end of the oscillation circuit 33, and the other touch electrode is connected to the resonant coil 39 for current level detection, which will be described later. They are connected to the circuit 35, respectively.

The current level detection circuit 35 includes a diode bridge D
B, comparator CP and diode bridge DB
One output end of the oscillation circuit 33 and the output end of the resonant coil 39 of the resonant circuit 34 are connected to the AC input end of the
Further, the DC output end side is connected to the non-inverting input terminal of the comparator CP via a resistor R, with a current detection resistor R4 and a smoothing capacitor C3 connected in parallel. The voltage input to the non-inverting input terminal of the comparator CP is the resistor R4.
The voltage e generated across the voltage e is inputted after being smoothed by a CR time constant set by a smoothing circuit consisting of a resistor R5 and a capacitor C3. On the other hand, the comparator C
The inverting input terminal of P is connected to the connection point between the resistors R6 and R7 of a reference voltage setting circuit consisting of resistors Rs and R7 inserted and connected in series between the constant voltage power supply van and the ground,
A reference voltage f divided by a resistor R6R is always input. Also, the output terminal of the comparator CP is connected to the constant voltage power supply VD.
D via a resistor R8, and is also connected to one input terminal of an AND circuit 37 to be described next, and the output terminal of the comparator CP receives the voltage sent from the resonant circuit 34 to its input terminal. That is, when the relationship is that the voltage e input to the non-inverting input terminal>voltage f input to the inverting input terminal, an "H" level signal is output, and when the relationship is opposite to the above, " A signal of L rubel is outputted and sent to an AND circuit 37, respectively.

The AND circuit 37 has one input end connected to the output end of the current level detection circuit 35, and the other input end connected to l-+, 5
About KHz, and preferably 1 oscillation period per minute
A second oscillation circuit 36 that constantly outputs a clock signal at an oscillation frequency that is an integer multiple within 00 times is connected, and the output terminal of the AND circuit 37 is connected to the input terminal of the frequency dividing circuit 38, and the current level When an "H" level signal is sent from the detection circuit 35, a pulse signal is sent as a touch signal to the frequency dividing circuit 38 at regular intervals.

Further, the frequency divider circuit 38 divides the frequency of the pulse signal sent from the AND circuit 37 and divides the frequency of the pulse signal at a fixed period (for example, once per minute).
00 times), a square wave pulse signal is sent out. A switching element 4o made of a transistor with a common emitter is connected to the output terminal of the frequency dividing circuit 38, and the collector of the switching element 40 is controlled by turning on and off the switching element 4o using the pulse signal. The coil X of the solenoid 26 inserted and connected between and the constant voltage power supply VDD is intermittently energized. A protective diode D is inserted in parallel with the coil X of the solenoid 26 in the opposite direction to prevent the switching element 40 from being destroyed by the back electromotive force of the coil X.

The touch switch circuit 31 is housed in each circuit 32 to 38 except for the pair of touch electrodes a and b embedded in the ball-hitting handle 27, or in a control box 30 attached to the rear of the solenoid 26.

Next, the operation will be explained.

(1) When the ball hitting handle 27 is not gripped, the constant voltage power supply Vcc supplied from the power supply circuit 32
Either a clock signal is outputted to the resonance circuit 34 at a constant oscillation frequency from the output end of the oscillation circuit 33 (see the output 33 in FIG. 4), or the resonance circuit 34 Since the resonance frequency determined by the capacitance C of the touch electrodes a and b and the inductance L of the resonance coil 39 and the oscillation frequency output from the first oscillation circuit 33 do not match, the resonance circuit 34 has a resonance current (
AC) or does not flow. Therefore, the current level detection circuit 35
Since the reference voltage f input to the inverting input terminal of the comparator CP is higher than the voltage e input to the non-inverting input terminal, an "L" level signal is output from the output terminal of the comparator CP. The AND circuit 37 is not operated (35 in Fig. 4).
．． 37), the frequency dividing circuit 38 does not send out a pulse signal (touch signal) to the switching element 40. That is, it detects that the player is not gripping the ball hitting handle 27.

(2) When the player grips the ball hitting handle 27 Contrary to the above, when the player grips the ball hitting handle 27, the ball hitting handle 27
The capacitance C between the pair of touch electrodes a and b buried within the body suddenly increases due to the capacitance Cm of the human body.

5 and the inductance L of the resonant coil 39
When the resonance frequency determined by matches the oscillation frequency of the clock signal output from the first oscillation circuit 33,
A large resonant current (alternating current) will flow through the resonant circuit 34. This resonant current is rectified into direct current by the diode bridge DB of the current level detection circuit 35. The current rectified into direct current is detected by a current detection resistor R4 provided in the current level detection circuit 35, and the voltage e generated across the resistor R4 is composed of a resistor R6 and a capacitor C1. The signal is smoothed by a smoothing circuit and input to the non-inverting input terminal of the comparator CP. On the other hand, the reference voltage f divided by the resistors R, , R is always input to the inverting input terminal of the comparator CP, and the comparator CP compares the two input voltages, and in the case of elf, outputs An "H" level signal is output from the end (the reference voltage f is determined by the capacitance C of the touch electrodes a and b when a human body grips the ball batting handle 27).
is generated in the resonance circuit 34 due to the increase in capacitance C, and is lower than the voltage of the large resonance current flowing through the resonance circuit 34 that occurs when the ball hitting handle 27 is not gripped. It goes without saying that the voltage should be set higher than the voltage of the minute resonant current flowing. (See output 35 in Figure 4).

The “H” level signal output from the comparator CP of the current level detection circuit 35 is sent to one input terminal of the AND circuit 37. Furthermore, since the clock signal output from the second oscillation circuit at a constant cycle is always input to the other input terminal of the AND circuit 37, the output terminal of the AND circuit 37 is compared to the input terminal thereof. By inputting the "H" level signal sent from the device CP, the on/off control is repeated in synchronization with the constant period clock signal output from the second oscillation circuit 36, and the on/off control is repeated. The pulse signal is sent as a touch signal to the next frequency dividing circuit 38 (see output 37 in FIG. 4). In response to this, the frequency dividing circuit 38 divides the frequency of the touch signal and sends a rectangular wave pulse signal to the base of the switching element 40, turning on the switching element 40 at regular intervals, thereby turning on the solenoid 26. For example, 100 per minute.
A pachinko ball 29 is hit with a batting rod 28 at a rate of once.

As described above, by sending a touch signal from the ant circuit 37 to the frequency dividing circuit 38, it is confirmed that the player intends to hit the pachinko ball 29.

When the player takes his hand off the ball/X handle 27 after hitting the pachinko ball 29, that is, when he stops holding the ball handle 27, the capacitance of the touch electrodes a and b rapidly decreases. Therefore, since the resonance frequency determined by the capacitance C and the resonance coil 39 does not match the oscillation frequency of the clock signal output from the first oscillation circuit 33, only a small current flows through the resonance circuit 34. As a result, an "L" level signal is output from the output terminal of the current level detection circuit 35, so the AND circuit 37 does not operate.

Therefore, since no touch signal is sent to the frequency dividing circuit 38, the solenoid 26 is not energized and the pachinko ball 2
9 batting cannot be performed.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, the present invention takes advantage of the fact that when a human body comes into contact with a pair of touch electrodes provided in a resonant circuit, the capacitance between the two electrodes or the capacitance of the human body increases rapidly. Since it is configured to detect contact or non-contact with the human body, it is not affected by changes in conditions such as weather at all, compared to conventional methods that use capacitance between the human body and the ground. Therefore, the human body can always be detected in a stable state.

In addition, the space between the two touch electrodes can be adjusted by arranging a pair of touch electrodes as long as there is enough space so that the touch electrodes do not touch each other, or, for example, even in a narrow space inside the ball batting handle of an electric pachinko machine. This is fully possible without exposing the touch electrodes, and because it only uses changes in capacitance between the touch electrodes, the difference in the value of the resonant current flowing through the resonant circuit when the human body is in contact with the human body and when there is no contact with the human body is Since the resonant current can be very large, detection of this resonant current makes it possible to significantly improve the human body detection sensitivity.

Furthermore, in order to improve the detection sensitivity of the human body, there is no need for special detection sensitivity adjustment components or the effort of adjusting the sensitivity.
This makes it possible to simplify the detection circuit itself, reduce the cost of the device, and make it suitable for mass production.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a front view of an electric pachinko machine equipped with the batted ball launcher of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view showing the main parts of the electric pachinko machine showing the operating state of the batting ball/percent handle, and Fig. 3 4 is a schematic configuration diagram of a touch switch circuit used in a batted ball launching device, FIG. 4 is a time chart diagram illustrating the operation of the touch switch circuit, and FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram of a conventional touch switch circuit. 33.36・Oscillation circuit 34・Resonance circuit 35・Current level detection circuit 39・Resonance circuit a, b・Touch electrode

Claims (1)

[Claims] A resonant circuit consists of an oscillation circuit that outputs a clock signal at a constant oscillation frequency, a pair of touch electrodes and a resonant coil are inserted and connected in series with each other, and the resonance that flows through this resonant circuit. A current level detection circuit for detecting current is connected, and when a human body touches the pair of touch electrodes, the current level detection circuit detects a resonant current higher than a set level flowing through the resonant circuit, and outputs the result. A ball launcher for an electric pachinko machine, characterized in that a command to hit a pachinko ball is output from an end.