JPH04210079A - Ball feeder of pinball machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a compact ball feeder without needing an interlocking mechanism by driving a ball feeding member with a magnet piece mounted to the ball feeding member and an electromagnet provided in a position opposed to the magnet piece. CONSTITUTION:A magnet piece 25 and electromagnet 29 are provided such that the magnet piece 25 is normally attracted to the iron core of the excited electromagnet 29 and repulsed by the excited electromagnet 29. Thus, a ball feeding member 22 is normally pivoted downward by its own weight and the attraction of the iron core of the electromagnet 29 to the magnet piece 25. A cam 43 is rotated by the rotation of a motor 41 to drive a shot lever driving member 34 for ball shot operation, while a ball feeding signal is transmitted every time the cam 43 is detected by a ball feed sensor 31. Thus, one time of a ball feeding signal will be transmitted every one time of ball shot operation.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a ball feeding device for a pachinko machine for supplying pachinko balls in a ball supply path to a ball firing section one by one. [0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In conventional ball feeding devices, a ball feeding member facing a ball supply path is mechanically operated in conjunction with the firing operation of a firing rod to supply balls to a ball firing section. In addition, in Japanese Patent Publication No. 62-31953 related to the application filed by the present applicant,
A ball feeding device has been disclosed that supplies a ball to a ball launcher by operating a ball feeding member using a solenoid or rotating the ball feeding member using a step motor. [0003]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in a ball feeding device that operates by mechanically interlocking the ball feeding member with the firing operation of the firing rod, the mechanism for communicating between the firing rod and the ball feeding member becomes complicated. However, there were problems with durability, such as friction occurring between each member, requiring a large force for operation, and friction causing wear of the members. Further, even when a solenoid or a step motor is used, the structure becomes complicated, the ball feeding member becomes large, and the space inside the pachinko machine cannot be used effectively. [0004]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention has been proposed in view of the above, and aims to simplify the structure and miniaturize the ball feeding device that supplies each ball to the ball launcher of a pachinko machine, and to improve the durability. The ball supply frame is equipped with a ball supply path, a ball receiver at one end, a shaft hole at the other end, and a magnet piece attached to the ball supply frame. A ball feeding member has a ball receiving portion rotatably facing the ball feeding path by inserting the rotation shaft into the shaft hole, and a ball feeding member provided in the ball feeding frame so as to face the magnet piece of the ball feeding member. electromagnet and
It is characterized by consisting of a ball feed sensor that sends a drive signal to an electromagnet. [0005]

[Operation] Under normal conditions, the magnet piece of the ball sending member is attracted to the iron core of the electromagnet, and the tip of the upper surface of the ball receiver facing the ball supply path restricts the ball from flowing down on the ball supply path. When the electromagnet is excited based on the ball feed signal from the ball feed sensor,
The magnet piece of the ball sending member and the electromagnet repel each other, the ball sending member rotates upward, the ball receiving part faces the batted ball supply path, and one ball is held in the ball receiving part. Then, when the electromagnet is demagnetized,
The magnet piece of the ball sending member is attracted to the iron core of the electromagnet, and the ball sending member returns downward and rotates, supplying the ball held in the ball receiver to the ball launcher and releasing the ball from the upper surface of the ball receiver. The tip restricts the flow of the next ball on the ball supply path. In this way, the balls on the ball supply path are sequentially supplied to the ball launcher. [0006]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an opening/closing panel 1 that is attached to the front frame of a pachinko machine. This opening/closing panel 1 has a batted ball supply tray 2 on the front surface and a batted ball supply frame 3 on the back surface. Also,
The ball supply port 4 to the batted ball supply tray 2 is provided with a ball deriving member 5. [0007] The ball supply frame 3 shown in FIGS. 2 to 4 consists of a main body 6 and a cover member 7. As shown in FIGS. The main body 6 has a ball count inlet 8 opened in the middle of the hole to take in balls from the batted ball supply tray 2, and a case 9 is provided to surround the top and one side of the ball count inlet 8. An upper ball passage piece 10 is provided on the side. Further, a protruding piece 11 is protruded from the lower part of the case 9 toward the downward direction of the pitch number inlet 8. [0008] On the other hand, the cover member 7 has a ball count outlet 12 opened in the middle of the hole for guiding the balls to the ball launcher, and a ball extraction port 13 opened in the lower corner. be. A lower ball passage piece 14 is provided to surround one side and the lower part of the ball count outlet 12, and a ball extraction passage piece 15 is provided to surround one side and the lower part of the ball extraction port 13. . This ball extraction passage piece 15 extends to one side of the ball extraction opening 13 and merges with the lower ball passage piece 14 to form a ball extraction passage 16 that slopes downward toward the ball extraction opening 13. There is. The cover member 7 also has a shutter mounting portion 1 located below the protruding piece 11 provided on the case 9 of the main body 6.
7 is provided, and a ball removal shutter 18 is slidably mounted within the space between the protruding piece 11 and the shutter mounting portion 17. This ball removal shutter 18 is biased by a spring or the like, and always projects toward the lower ball passage piece 14. Then, the above-mentioned case 9 and the upper ball passage piece 10
A ball supply path 19 is formed by the ball removal shutter 18 and the lower ball passage piece 14. [0009] The case 9 also has a spilled ball collection port 20.
A spilled ball collecting gutter 21 is provided below the spilled ball collecting port 20 and slopes downward toward the spilled ball collecting port 20. The spilled ball collection port 20 faces the ball removal passage 16 and collects spilled balls generated when the metal frame is opened or closed. [0010] A ball feeding member 22 is rotatably faced at the lower end of the ball supply path 19 so as to be located between the upper ball passage piece 10 and the lower ball passage piece 14. As shown in FIG. 5, this ball feeding member 22 has a receiving portion 23 having a substantially U-shaped cross section at one end, and a shaft hole 24 formed at the other end. The magnet piece 25 is attached. Further, the tip of the upper surface of the receiving portion 23 is an inclined surface 26 . The main body 6 has a rotating shaft 27 that is inserted into the shaft hole 24 of the ball feeding member 22, and a rotating shaft 27 of the cover member 7.
A boss portion 28 is provided at a position facing the. Further, an electromagnet 29 is attached to the side of the rotation shaft 27 of the main body 6. Then, when the cover member 7 is removed and the rotating shaft 27 is inserted into the shaft hole 24 of the ball feeding member 22 and the cover member 7 is attached to the main body 6, the tip of the rotating shaft 27 is attached to the boss. The ball feeding member 22 can be attached to the batted ball supply frame 3 by fitting into the portion 28 . [00111 The magnet piece 25 and the electromagnet 29 are normally demagnetized, the magnet piece 25 is attracted to the iron core 30 of the electromagnet 29, and when the electromagnet 29 is energized, the magnet piece 25 and the electromagnet 29 repel each other. It is set up so that we can be happy. Therefore, the ball feeding member 22 is always rotated downward by its own weight and the force of the magnet piece 25 being attracted to the iron core 30 of the electromagnet 29. In this state, the lower surface of the receiver section 23 rests on the lower ball passage member, the receiver section 23 faces the ball count outlet 12, and the tip of the upper surface of the receiver section 23 is located within the batted ball supply path 19. This prevents the ball from flowing down (Figure 3). On the other hand, when the electromagnet 29 is excited, the magnet piece 25 and the electromagnet 29 repel each other, causing the ball feeding member 22 to rotate upward. In this state, the upper surface of the receiving portion 23 is
0, the receiving portion 23 is positioned within the hit ball supply path 19, and one ball is taken into the receiving portion 23 (FIG. 4). [0012] Then, when the electromagnet 29 is demagnetized again, the ball feeding member 22 rotates downward due to its own weight and the force of the magnet piece 25 being attracted to the iron core 30 of the electromagnet 29, and is held within the receiving portion 23. The ball is sent from the ball exit 12 to the ball launcher (
(not shown). By repeating the above-described operations, it is possible to supply one ball in the ball supply path 19 to the ball launcher. In addition, since the tip of the upper surface of the receiving portion 23 is an inclined surface 26, when taking the ball into the receiving portion 23, the force for rotating the ball sending member 22 can be reduced, and the ball can be taken into the receiving portion 23. The feeding operation can be made smooth. [0013] The ball feeding operation described above is performed by the ball feeding sensor 31.
This is done based on the output of A ball firing mechanism 32 having a ball feed sensor 31 is shown in FIG. The ball launch mechanism 32 is
The firing rod drive member 34 is attached to the panel 33 so as to be rotatable about a shaft 35, and the firing rod 36 is attached to the shaft 35. The firing rod driving member 34 obtains the firing force of the firing rod 36 by the urging force of a spring 37. A gear 38 is provided on the outer periphery of the firing rod drive member 34, and a firing force adjusting member 39 is engaged with the gear 38. When the firing force adjusting member 39 is rotated, the firing rod driving member 34 is also rotated, and the repulsive force of the spring 37 can be adjusted to adjust the firing force. Further, the firing rod drive member 34 is provided with a drive crank 40, and the drive crank 40 is connected to the rotation shaft 4 of the motor 41.
The cam 43 attached to 2 is facing. Further, a ball feed sensor 31 is provided within the rotation range of the cam 43. As the motor 41 rotates, the cam 43 rotates and drives the firing rod drive member 34 to perform a ball firing operation.
Every time the cam 43 is detected by the ball feed sensor 31, a ball feed signal is transmitted. Therefore, one ball sending signal is transmitted for each ball firing operation. [0014] The signal from the ball feed sensor 31 is transmitted to the ball feed control means 32, as shown in FIG. 29 and set electromagnet 29 to 0.
．． Energize for 2 seconds. A timing chart showing the relationship between the ball feed signal from the ball feed sensor 31 and the drive of the electromagnet 29 is shown in FIG. [0015] The single ball feed sensor 31 is not limited to the above-mentioned one, but any sensor may be used as long as it can perform a ball feeding operation in accordance with the timing of the ball firing operation, and a sensor for detecting a fired ball may be provided on the firing rail. It's okay. [0016]

As explained above, in the present invention, the ball feeding member is driven by a magnet piece attached to the single ball feeding member and an electromagnet provided at a position opposite to the magnet piece. Therefore, since the ball feeding member is not mechanically interlocked with any other mechanism, an interlocking mechanism is unnecessary, and the ball feeding device can be downsized. Furthermore, since no friction occurs between each member, a large force is not required for operation, and there is no wear due to friction, so durability is dramatically improved. Furthermore, since no solenoids or step motors are used, the structure is simple and the space inside the pachinko machine can be used effectively.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an opening/closing panel.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the batted ball supply frame.

FIG. 3 is a rear view of the batted ball supply frame showing a state in which the receiving portion prevents balls from flowing down in the batted ball supply path.

FIG. 41 is a rear view of the batted ball supply frame showing a state in which the ball receiving portion holds a ball in the batted ball supply path. FIG. 5 is a side view of the ball feeding member.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the ball firing mechanism.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the relationship between a ball feed sensor, a ball feed control means, and an electromagnet.

FIG. 8 is a timing chart showing the timing of operations of a ball feed sensor and an electromagnet.

[Explanation of symbols]

3. Batted ball supply frame 22 Ball feeding member 23 Receiving part 24 Shaft hole

[Figure 3]

Claims (1)

[Claims] Claim 1: A ball feeding device that supplies one ball to a ball firing section of a pachinko machine, comprising a ball supply frame provided with a ball supply path, a ball receiving section at one end, and a ball receiving section at the other end. A ball feeding member having a shaft hole formed therein, a magnet piece attached thereto, and a rotation shaft provided in the ball supply frame inserted into the shaft hole so that the ball receiving portion rotatably faces the ball supply path; A ball feeding device for a pachinko machine, comprising an electromagnet provided in a ball supply frame so as to face a magnet piece of a ball feeding member, and a ball feeding sensor that transmits a drive signal to the electromagnet.