JPH0780142A - Pachinko ball dispenser - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] To provide a small pachinko ball dispenser that can accurately and quickly dispense a specified number of pachinko balls. A gear wheel 10 having a recess 11 into which a pachinko ball is fitted is formed rotatably in a ball passage 20 for paying out, and a ratchet wheel 30 is connected to the gear wheel 10 to rotate. A main stopper 40, which is swingably provided along a plane perpendicular to the axis of the ratchet wheel 30, and whose tip engages with teeth of the ratchet wheel 30 when swinging in one direction;
The ratchet wheel 30 is swingably provided along the plane in association with the main stopper 40, and the ratchet wheel 30 is moved so that the tip end side is moved to an engaging position where the teeth of the ratchet wheel 30 can be engaged and a retracting position where the ratchet wheel 30 cannot engage. The sub-stopper 60 is provided so as to be swingable also in the axial direction of the main stopper 40 and the sub-stopper 60 until the payout number approaches the command value.
There is provided a control means 90 for alternately engaging the main stopper 40 or the sub stopper 60 with the ratchet wheel 30 when the engagement with the ratchet wheel 30 is released and the number of payouts approaches the command value.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a pachinko machine or a ball lending machine, in which a predetermined number of balls are counted and discharged in order to perform automatic replenishment, automatic award, automatic payout, etc. of pachinko balls. Regarding vessels.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in a pachinko machine or a ball lending machine, a pachinko ball dispenser (so-called ball) for counting and ejecting a predetermined number of balls in order to automatically replenish, automatically win, or pay out pachinko balls As the counter, the one described in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 61-82678 is known. This is because a tooth ring having recesses into which one pachinko ball is fitted is formed in the ball passage, is rotatably arranged in the ball passage, and is supplied from the upper portion into the ball passage to fall by its own weight. The ball is configured so as to be engaged with the recess and always drop with the rotation of the toothed wheel, while detecting and counting the pachinko balls paid out by the optical sensor arranged on the downstream side of the ball passage. By controlling the rotation amount of the tooth ring, a predetermined number of balls are discharged from the lower portion in the ball passage, but the rotation of the tooth ring is controlled by one stopper. This was done by engaging and disengaging the (tooth ring stopper).

That is, by releasing the engagement of the toothed wheel stopper, the toothed wheels are continuously freely rotated depending on the weight of the pachinko balls, and the pachinko balls are ejected one after another. When counted by the optical sensor, the rotation of the tooth wheel was stopped by engaging the tooth wheel stopper with the tooth wheel.

[0004]

For this reason, the tooth ring stopper is engaged with the timing after counting or before counting several times. However, variations in ball speed and delay in operation of the stopper solenoid (due to dust and changes over time). ), It was difficult to discharge the correct number of balls.

That is, after the predetermined number of payouts is detected, the tooth ring rotates one tooth (one recess) or more before the tooth ring stopper engages with the tooth ring, and the pachinko balls are extraly paid out. There were times when it happened.

As ball counters other than the above, there are prepared ball counters for discharge such as 100, 400, and 25, and it is possible to freely discharge any number of balls. There wasn't.
In this case, if a stopper is provided every 5 cuts for a 10-ring (10-tooth) annulus, it will be 25 when the gear stops after two and a half times, 100 when it stops at 10 rotations, 40 rotations If you stop at, you can control in units of 5 such as 400, but 11 like a prize ball on a pachinko machine
It is not possible to pay a fraction, such as when 3 pieces are taken out.

Therefore, the applicant has filed Japanese Patent Application No. 4-110364.
In this issue, we proposed an excellent pachinko ball dispenser that can accurately and quickly pay out the number of pachinko balls that is arbitrarily ordered. This is to provide two stopper mechanisms for gears (tooth rings) whose stop positions are deviated within the range of one tooth, and when the number of payouts approaches the command value, these stopper mechanisms are made to function alternately and the gears are set to one. It is to rotate the teeth one by one and pay out the pachinko balls accurately one by one.

However, since the pachinko ball dispenser proposed in Japanese Patent Application No. 4-110364 mentioned above is provided with two stopper mechanisms including the driving means, it is possible to avoid an increase in the size of the ordinary stopper mechanism. In other words, it is not necessarily advantageous for saving space in a pachinko machine or the like.

Specifically, for example, in the structure of the pachinko ball dispenser illustrated in the embodiment of the above-mentioned application, the stoppers (main stopper and sub stopper) of each stopper mechanism are arranged along a plane perpendicular to the axis of the gear. It swings and laterally engages with the teeth of the gear, and the solenoid or spring of each stopper mechanism rotates the gear (pachinko ball weight,
Alternatively, the inertia force of the gear itself) was taken into account.
Therefore, a strong solenoid or spring is required for each stopper mechanism, and as a result, both solenoids are particularly large.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional circumstances, and is a pachinko ball dispenser capable of accurately and rapidly delivering a pachinko ball of an arbitrarily commanded quantity, which is miniaturized. It is intended to provide a pachinko ball dispenser capable of.

[0011]

The object of the present invention to achieve the above object is to provide a gear (1) in which a recess (11) into which one pachinko ball is inserted is formed.
0) is rotatably arranged in the ball passage (20) as desired.
A ball, which is supplied from above into the ball passage and is about to fall under its own weight, is configured to engage with the recess (11) and drop with rotation of the gear (10).
In a pachinko ball dispenser configured to discharge a predetermined number of balls from the lower part of the ball passage (20) by controlling the rotation of (0), the gear is connected to the gear (10) and rotates in conjunction therewith. The ratchet wheel (30) and the ratchet wheel (3) arranged on the side of the ratchet wheel (30).
(0) is swingably provided along a plane perpendicular to the axis of (0), and when swinging in one direction, one end engages with the teeth of the ratchet wheel (30) to prevent rotation of the gear (10). A stopper (40), a main drive means (50) for swinging the main stopper (40), and a base end side of the main stopper (40) are connected to the main stopper (4).
0) so as to be swingable along the plane, and the tip end side is moved to an engaging position capable of engaging the teeth of the ratchet wheel (30) and a retracting position not capable of engaging the teeth. The ratchet wheel (30) is provided so as to be swingable also in the axial direction, and when the main stopper (40) swings in the other direction to disengage from the ratchet wheel (30), the engagement is stopped. A sub-stopper (60) whose front end engages with the teeth of the ratchet wheel (30) as long as it is in the mating position to prevent the rotation of the gear (10) within the rotation amount of one of the recesses (11). The sub-stopper (60) is acted upon by an axial force of the ratchet wheel (30) to disengage from the ratchet wheel (30) regardless of the swinging state of the main stopper (40). Put the sub stopper at the retracted position. A sub driving means (70) for moving,
Until the payout detection means (80) for detecting the pachinko balls discharged from the lower part in the ball passage (20) and the payout number based on the payout detection means (80) approach the command value, 50) and the main drive (70) by controlling the operation of the sub drive means (70).
And the ratchet wheel (30) of the sub stopper (60)
When the number of payouts approaches the command value, the main drive means (50) is intermittently operated until the number of payouts reaches the command value, and the main stopper ( 40) or a control means (9) for alternately engaging the sub stopper (60) with the ratchet wheel (30).
0), and a pachinko ball dispenser characterized by being provided.

[0012]

In the pachinko ball dispenser of the present invention, the discharge of the pachinko balls is detected by the payout detection means (80), and the main drive means (50) and the sub drive are operated until the number of payouts based on this detection approaches the command value. The means (70) is the control means (9
0), the engagement of the main stopper (40) and the sub stopper (60) with the ratchet wheel (30) is maintained in the released state. Therefore, until the payout number approaches the command value, the gear (10) continuously rotates at high speed due to the weight of the pachinko balls, and the pachinko balls are discharged one after another at high speed.

After that, when the payout number approaches the command value,
The main driving means (50) is operated intermittently by the control means (90) until the payout number matches the command value, and the main stopper (40) or the sub-stopper (60) alternates with the gear. Is performed. Then, the sub stopper (60) allows rotation of the gear (10) corresponding to a part of the recess (11) each time the main stopper (40) is disengaged from the ratchet wheel (30), and the ratchet wheel (30) is rotated. ), And from a similar relationship, when the sub-stopper disengages from the ratchet wheel (30), the gear (10) corresponding to the remaining portion of the recess (11) is allowed to rotate and the main stopper is engaged. (4
0) engages the ratchet wheel (30). Therefore, every time this intermittent operation is performed for one cycle, the gear (10) consequently rotates by one concave portion, and one pachinko ball is ejected.

When the payout number matches the command value, the intermittent operation is stopped by the control of the control means (90) (that is, the main stopper is stopped with the gear engaged), and the gear (10) is stopped. The rotation (pachinko ball ejection) is stopped. Therefore, the pachinko ball dispenser of the present invention enables high-speed and accurate payout.

Moreover, the pachinko ball dispenser of the present invention has a structure in which the sub-stopper (60) is swung in the axial direction of the ratchet wheel (30) to engage and disengage the ratchet wheel (30). The rotational force of the gear (10), that is, the ratchet wheel (30) does not act as a load on the sub-driving means (70) for driving the motor. Therefore, as the sub-driving unit (70), a unit having a small output for swinging the sub-stopper (60) can be used, and the dispenser can be downsized.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the pachinko ball dispenser of the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, a gear wheel 10 having a recess 11 into which one pachinko ball is fitted is formed in the ball passage 20 so that the gear wheel 10 can be freely rotated. , The balls that are supplied from above into the ball passage 20 and are about to fall due to their own weight are engaged with the recess 11 and the gear 1
It is configured to drop with rotation of 0, and a predetermined number of balls are discharged from the lower part in the ball passage 20 by controlling the rotation of the gear 10.

The ratchet wheel 30 and the main stopper 4 are provided as components for controlling the rotation of the gear 10.
0, a main drive means 50, a sub stopper 60, a sub drive means 70, a passage detection sensor 80 (payout detection means), and a control means 90.

In this case, the gear 10 has ten recessed portions 11 continuously formed on the outer periphery thereof, and is supported by a shaft 12 orthogonal to the paper surface in FIG. On the side of the gear 10, a governor 13 whose both ends alternately contact the outer periphery of the gear 10 is swingably provided. While the gear 10 is rotating, the governor 13 comes into contact with the gear 10 to resist rotation. The excessively high speed rotation of the gear 10 is prevented.

The ratchet wheel 30 is connected to the gear 10 by a shaft 12 common to the gear 10 and rotates synchronously with the gear 10. The outer periphery of the ratchet wheel 30 has ten teeth 31.
It is formed at the same pitch as 1.

The main stopper 40 has a shaft 1 at the base end.
The shaft 31 of the ratchet wheel 30 is arranged laterally of the ratchet wheel 30 by being supported by the shaft 41 parallel to the shaft 2.
1 is swingably provided along a plane perpendicular to the plane (a plane parallel to the paper surface in FIG. 1), and when swinging in the right direction in FIG. 1, the pawl 42 at the tip engages with the tooth 31 of the ratchet wheel to rotate the gear. It is configured to prevent rotation of 10. An arm portion 43 is extended to the tip of the main stopper 42, and one end of a main spring 52 described later is attached to the arm portion 43.

The engagement position of the main stopper 40 with the ratchet wheel 30 or the phase relationship between the gear 10 and the ratchet wheel 30 is as shown in FIG. 1 when the main stopper 40 is engaged with the ratchet wheel 30. The ten teeth (mountain portions) are set so as to be located right next to the shaft 12.

The main drive means 50 comprises a main solenoid 51 and a main spring 52. When excited, the main solenoid 51 operates in a direction in which the mover 51a is pulled in. In this case, the mover 51a is connected to the tip of the main stopper 40 by a pin 53, and the operation of the main solenoid 51 causes the main stopper 51a to move. 40 swings in a direction away from the ratchet wheel 30.
One end of the main spring 52 has the main stopper 4
It is attached to the arm part 43 of No. 2 and the other end is a tension spring attached to a support case (not shown) of the dispenser, and biases the main stopper 42 in the right direction, that is, in the direction of engaging the gear 10. There is.

The sub-stopper 60 has a base plate 62 at its base end side via a shaft 61 arranged in a direction perpendicular to the shaft 12.
And is swingable in the direction of the shaft 12 (the direction orthogonal to the paper surface in FIG. 1). Base plate 6
2 is fixedly provided at the base end of the main stopper 42, and swings together with the main stopper 42 around the shaft 41, and as a result, the sub stopper 60 moves along with the swing of the main stopper 42. It is designed to swing in the same direction as 42.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the tip of the sub-stopper 60 extends below the ratchet wheel 30 and swings in the direction of the shaft 12 by the drive of a sub-solenoid, which will be described later, and the tip side of the ratchet 60 is ratcheted. It is configured to move to an engagement position where the teeth of the vehicle 30 can be engaged and a retracted position where the teeth cannot be engaged. When the main stopper 40 swings to the left and is disengaged from the ratchet wheel 30, the tip of the sub-stopper 60 engages with the teeth of the ratchet wheel 30 as long as it is in the engagement position. Then, the rotation of the gear 10 is changed to the concave portion 11
It is located at a position where it is blocked by a rotation amount equivalent to half of the.

In this case, the sub drive means 70 is composed of a sub solenoid 71 and a sub spring 72. The sub solenoid 71 is small and has a small suction force, and in this case, it is attached to the base plate 62 so as to face the back side of the sub stopper 60. This sub solenoid 7
1 is for directly attracting the sub-stopper 60 as a movable piece, and when the sub-solenoid 71 is excited, the sub-stopper 60 moves to the above-mentioned engagement position.

The sub spring 72 is a sub stopper 60.
Is a tension spring mounted between the base end of the base plate 62 and the base plate 62, and its spring constant is set to a small value corresponding to the suction force of the sub-solenoid 71. It is biasing toward the position.

The passage detecting sensor 80 is composed of, for example, a light emitting element and a light receiving element (photoelectric switch), and the output of the light receiving element changes when a pachinko ball passing through the exit side of the ball passage 20 blocks light between these elements. This informs the control means 90 of the passage of the pachinko balls.

The control means 90 is a controller for controlling the dispenser main body shown in FIG. 1. In this case, as shown in FIG. 4, the counting circuit 91, the comparison circuit 92, and the main drive circuit 9 are provided.
3, a sub-driving circuit 94, which operates as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 5 described later.

That is, the counting circuit 91 accumulates the number of pachinko balls paid out from the lower portion of the ball passage 20 based on the output of the passage detection sensor 80, and outputs a signal representing the paid-out number to the comparison circuit 92. Is.

The comparison circuit 92 compares the set value (command value) of the number of payouts input from the outside with the count value of the number of payouts input from the counting circuit 91, and the difference between the command value and the count value is 3 Until the difference between the command value and the count value reaches 3, the sub-solenoid 71 is operated until the count value matches the command value. A command for intermittently operating the main solenoid 51 is output.

Main drive circuit 93 and sub drive circuit 94
Is a circuit for actually applying the excitation voltage to the main solenoid 51 or the sub-solenoid 71 in accordance with the command from the comparison circuit 92.

Next, the operation will be described. The payout command is not input to the control means 90 of the present dispenser, and the main drive circuit 9
3, when the excitation voltage is not applied from the sub drive circuit 94, the pawl 42 at the tip of the main stopper 40 engages with the teeth 31 of the ratchet wheel 30 by the restoring force of the main spring 52, as shown in FIG. The rotation of 10 is stopped and the pachinko balls P supplied to the upper part of the ball passage 20 are maintained in a state in which they are prevented from falling (that is, payout). At this time, the sub stopper 60 is held at the retracted position shown by the chain line in FIG. 2 by the restoring force of the sub spring 72.

Now, when the pachinko ball payout is commanded and the set number (command value) of the payout ball number is inputted and stored in the comparison circuit 92 of the control means 90, the control means 90 mainly operates the comparison circuit 92. Operation is performed and the processing shown in the flowchart of FIG. 5 is performed.

That is, first, after it is determined that the set number is larger than 3 (step S1), only the main solenoid 51 is operated until the difference between the count value of the payout number and the set value in the counting circuit 91 becomes 3. Driven (Steps S2, S
5). Then, as shown in FIG. 3, the main stopper 40 swings to the left and disengages from the ratchet wheel 30, and the sub stopper 60 is in the retracted position. As a result, both the main stopper 40 and the sub stopper 60 engage with the ratchet wheel 30. It becomes a state not to do. Therefore, the ratchet wheel 30 and the gear 1
0 is in a free state and continuously rotates with the weight of the pachinko balls P, and the pachinko balls P are paid out one after another from the lower portion of the ball passage 20.

Although the number of the pachinko balls P paid out at this time is counted by the counting circuit 91 based on the detection signal of the passage detection sensor 80, when the detection signal is not input from the passage detection sensor 80, the pachinko balls are clogged or Since a problem such as a supply failure has occurred, an alarm is issued (steps S3 and S4).

Next, the difference between the count value of the number of payouts and the set value is 3
Then (step S5), the excitation of the main solenoid 51 is once stopped and the sub-solenoid 71 is excited (steps S6 and S7), and then the main solenoid 51 is intermittently excited (steps S6 and S7). Then, the state where the main stopper 40 swings to the left and right and the state where the ratchet wheel 30 is engaged (the state shown in FIG. 1) and the state where it is disengaged (the state shown in FIG. 3) are repeated. Further, at this time, since the sub stopper 60 is in the engagement position by the suction force of the sub solenoid 71, the state in which the ratchet wheel 30 is engaged and the state in which the sub stopper 60 is disengaged are repeated at the timing opposite to that of the main stopper 40.

That is, the main stopper 40 and the sub stopper 60 are alternately engaged with the ratchet wheel 30, and the sub stopper 60 is released each time the main stopper 40 is disengaged from the ratchet wheel 30. The gear 10 corresponding to the half of the recess 11 is allowed to rotate and engages with the ratchet wheel 30, and from the same relationship, the sub stopper 6
When 0 is disengaged from the ratchet wheel 30, the main stopper 40 is engaged with the ratchet wheel 30 by allowing the gear 10 corresponding to the half of the recess 11 to rotate. Therefore, every time this intermittent operation is performed once, as a result, the gear 1
0 rotates by one of the concave portions 11, and one pachinko ball is ejected.

When the payout number matches the command value (step S10), the comparison circuit 92 causes the main solenoid 51 to operate.
And a command to stop the excitation of the sub-solenoid 71 and return to the original stopped state (step S11). When the payout command is input and the set number is 3 or less, the intermittent operation is performed from that time (step S1).

As described above, according to the above-mentioned pachinko ball dispenser, the gear 10 is continuously rotated depending on the weight of the pachinko ball until the number of payouts approaches the command value, in order to continuously eject the pachinko balls. , When the number of payouts approaches the command value, the rotation of the gear 10 is switched to the intermittent rotation, and the pachinko balls are paid out one by one. Therefore, there is a possibility that the rotation of the gear 10 is delayed and the pachinko balls are paid out extra. Instead, the exact number of balls can be paid out as instructed, and most of the pachinko balls are discharged by the high speed rotation of the gear 10, so that the payout speed can be made high as a whole.

Moreover, the pachinko ball dispenser of the present invention has a structure in which the sub-stopper 60 is swung in the axial direction of the ratchet wheel 30 to engage with and disengage from the ratchet wheel 30, so the sub-driving means for driving this swinging operation. The rotational force of the gear 10 or the ratchet wheel 30 does not act on the 70 as a load.
For this reason, it is possible to use a sub spring 52 having a small spring constant as the sub spring 52 that constitutes the sub driving means 70, and a small one having a small suction force as the sub solenoid 71, which makes the dispenser small. Can be converted.

[0041]

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION According to the pachinko ball dispenser of the present invention, it is possible to dispense an arbitrary number of balls at once with a single dispenser accurately and at high speed. Can contribute to improving the accuracy and speed of the ball payout operation of each part, unifying the model of the dispenser to reduce the cost of the pachinko island, and the sub drive means. The miniaturization can contribute to space saving in pachinko machines.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a main body of a pachinko ball dispenser according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a bottom view showing the main body of the pachinko ball dispenser according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a front view showing the operation of the pachinko ball dispenser according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a control means of the pachinko ball dispenser which is an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the pachinko ball dispenser, which is an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 ... Gear 11 ... Recess 20 ... Ball passage 30 ... Ratchet wheel 40 ... Main stopper 50 ... Main driving means 60 ... Sub stopper 70 ... Sub driving means 80 ... Dispensing detecting means 90 ... Control means

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A gear having a recess formed in the outer periphery for receiving one pachinko ball is rotatably arranged in the ball passage, and the gear is supplied from the upper portion into the ball passage to fall by its own weight. Is configured so that the balls are engaged with the recesses and fall with the rotation of the gear, and by controlling the rotation of the gear, a predetermined number of balls are discharged from the lower portion in the ball passage. A pachinko ball dispenser, which is connected to the gear and rotates in conjunction therewith, and a ratchet wheel arranged laterally of the ratchet wheel and swingable along a plane perpendicular to the axis of the ratchet wheel. A main stopper that is engaged with one of the teeth of the ratchet wheel to prevent rotation of the gear when swinging in one direction, a main drive unit that swings the main stopper, and a main stopper based on the main stopper. The ends are connected The ratchet wheel is provided so as to be swingable along the plane in association with the main stopper, and the tip end side is moved to an engaging position where the teeth of the ratchet wheel are engageable and a retracting position where the ratchet wheel is not engageable. It is also swingable in the axial direction of
When the main stopper swings in the other direction and disengages from the ratchet wheel, the tip of the main stopper engages with the teeth of the ratchet wheel as long as it is in the engagement position, and the rotation of the gear is changed to the concave portion. A sub-stopper that stops within one rotation amount, and an axial force of the ratchet wheel is applied to the sub-stopper to disengage from the ratchet wheel regardless of the swinging state of the main stopper. Sub driving means for swinging the sub stopper to the retracted position, payout detecting means for detecting pachinko balls discharged from the lower part in the ball passage, and until the payout number based on the payout detecting means approaches the command value. Controlling the operation of the main drive means and the sub drive means to maintain the engagement of the main stopper and the sub stopper with the ratchet wheel in a released state, When a number or a command value is approached, the main drive means is intermittently operated to alternately engage the main stopper or the sub-stopper with the ratchet wheel until the payout number matches the command value. A pachinko ball dispenser characterized by being provided with.