JPH08215380A - Ball shooting device for game machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To shoot a game ball normally even when a return ball remains in a guide part by stopping the supply of the game ball when a residual ball is detected, simultaneously running idle a rotary arm and eliminating the residual ball from the guide part by the rotary arm. CONSTITUTION: A residual ball detection sensor 93 detects the residual ball in a guide passage 63, and a detection signal is inputted to a shoot control part 6A. The shoot control part 6A sends a command to a latching solenoid 85, and stops the supply of the next ball P2. Simultaneously, the rotary arm 65 is rotated by sending a command to a motor 68. Therefore, the rotary arm 65 runs idle without providing the ball to be shot, and abutted with only the residual ball remaining in the guide passage 63. In this way, the residual ball is shot advancing a game part or a foul port, and eliminated from the guide part. After the residual ball is eliminated, control is returned to ordinary shooting control. The elimination of the residual ball is performed by setting the rotating strength of the rotary arm 65 at a level over the required minimum rotating strength.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a ball launching device for a game machine, which accelerates and guides a game ball by the rotation of a rotary arm and launches it toward a game board by a centrifugal force associated with the rotation.
In particular, the present invention relates to a ball launching device of a game machine, which is capable of appropriately processing a return ball.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, as a ball launching device for a game machine such as a pachinko machine, the one that directly uses the rotational motion of a motor has been used.
For example, it is proposed by Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-285253. This type of ball launching device guides the game balls that are sequentially sent along the inner circumferential wall of the guide part (container) by the arm that is rotationally driven by the motor, and the game ball that is generated by the centrifugal force accompanying the rotation of the arm. The movement of is accelerated and guided by the inner wall of the circumference, and the game balls to which the centrifugal force is applied in this way are discharged and launched onto the game board through the launch rail.
In such a ball launching device, if the rotational strength of the arm is weak, the game ball may return to the launch rail as a return ball without reaching the game board. This return ball is usually collected by entering the foul mouth provided in the middle of the launch rail, but the foul mouth is blocked by foreign matter,
When the game ball does not reach the foul mouth because the rotation strength is weak, it will return to the guide portion and remain there.

[0003]

However, in the above conventional ball launching device, even if such a returning ball occurs, the next game ball is continuously supplied, so that the game ball is normally launched. Even if it hits the return ball, it will still return to the guide part and remain, as a result, the return ball will be in a state of connecting beads and normal firing will be impossible, making it impossible to continue the game itself. . The present invention has been proposed in view of the above, and an object thereof is to provide a ball launching device for a gaming machine that can normally launch the next game ball even if a return ball is generated and remains in the guide portion. To do.

[0004]

In order to achieve the above object, a ball launching device of a gaming machine according to the present invention is provided with a guide portion for receiving game balls successively supplied one by one, and rotatable within the guide portion. Equipped with a rotating arm and a rotating arm driving means for driving the rotating arm to rotate, the game ball is accelerated and guided in the guide portion by the rotation of the rotating arm, and the centrifugal force accompanying the rotation guides the game ball toward the game board from the guide portion. In the ball launching device of the gaming machine, residual ball detecting means for detecting the game ball remaining in the guide portion after the launching operation by the rotary arm as a residual ball, and supply stopping means for stopping the supply of the game ball to the guide portion. When the residual ball is detected, the supply stop means is instructed to stop the supply of the game ball, and after the supply of the game ball is stopped, the rotation arm drive means is rotated to rotate the rotation arm. A removal operation command means for removing the residual sphere by a command to the rotation were to comprise a.

[0005]

As described above, according to the ball launching device of the gaming machine of the present invention, when the residual ball is detected, the supply of the game ball is stopped and the rotary arm is rotated, so the rotary arm should be launched. It spins without a game ball, hits only the residual ball remaining in the guide portion, and removes the residual ball from the guide portion.

[0006]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a front view in which a part of the pachinko machine 1 is cut away, and one side of a frame-shaped front frame 11 having a window portion is hinged to an outer frame 12 so that the front frame 11 can be opened and closed. A metal frame 13 is provided, and a glass frame 14 having glass mounted thereon is pivotally mounted on the upper portion of the metal frame 13 so as to be openable and closable, and the outer frame 12 and the glass frame 14 are locked by a locking device 15. Also, the glass frame 1
A front plate 2 provided with an upper plate 21 at a lower portion of 4
An upper tray set 2 composed of 2 and the like is provided, and a lower tray set 3 provided with a lower tray 31 is provided below the front frame 11.

A ball supply for supplying a game ball (hereinafter, simply referred to as "sphere") from the upper plate 21 to the ball launching device 6 on a game board mounting table (not shown) on the back side of the upper tray set 2 The device 80 (FIG. 3) is located. The firing path 70 communicating with the guide portion 6G is a member that guides the ball pushed out by the rotating arm 65 to the game portion 52 formed on the game board 5. This launch path 70 is the entrance of the foul ball gutter 79 (foul mouth).
It extends to 79a. The foul ball gutter 79 is for guiding the ball that has not reached the game section 52 to the lower plate 31 so as not to flow back into the ball launching device 6.

On the front surface side of the lower tray set 3, there is provided a handle portion 32 for adjusting the flight distance of a ball hit by the ball launching device 6 into the game portion 52.

In the window portion of the front frame 11, a game board 5 which is replaceable by being placed on a game board mounting table is provided so as to cover the window portion. A game section 52 surrounded by a guide rail 51 is formed on the front surface side of the game board 5, and various accessory items such as a variable display device 53 and a variable winning device 54 are provided in the game section 52.
Starting port 55, various prize tools 56a, 56b, windmill 57a,
57b or various indicator lights 58, etc. are provided, and the outlet 59 is provided at the lowest position. The guide rail 51
The indicator lamp 58c arranged on the right upper part outside the table constitutes a completion indicator lamp, and the indicator lamp 58c arranged on the left upper part.
d constitutes a prize ball indicator lamp. An external indicator lamp 58i is provided on the upper edge of the front frame 11.

On the other hand, FIG. 2 is a rear view of the pachinko machine 1, and on the rear side of the front frame 11, a rear plate (mechanical plate) formed of a metal plate in the shape of a dish frame for removably accommodating the game board 5 is provided. ) 16 is attached, and a mechanism frame 16a such as a base body is provided on the rear side of the rear plate 16. The mechanical frame 16a is a generic name for a member for attaching a main member on the back side of the pachinko machine 1 to the back side of the front frame 11. An upper tank 17 for storing prize balls is detachably provided in an upper portion on the left side of the base body, and the balls of the upper tank 17 are paid out to communicate with the upper tank 17. Lower tank 17 guided to device 18a
a is provided. Further, at the right side position of the upper tank 17, a main body terminal board 19 for electrically connecting a frame control circuit (board) and the outside such as a hall computer is arranged, and a game fixed on the back surface side of the game board 5 is provided. A wiring passage port 19b facing a relay terminal board 19a for electrically connecting the board control circuit (board) to the outside and the main body terminal board 19 is opened.

A mechanism frame set member 16 which is a kind of mechanism frame body 16a is attached to the rear plate 16 via a hinge 16b.
Butterfly is attached so that c can be opened and closed. This mechanism frame setting member 16c
Is a member that covers a predetermined portion of the rear plate 16 when closed, and forms a prize ball gutter and a prize ball payout device 18a that communicate with the lower tank 17a, and the prize ball payout device 18a.
A prize ball discharge path or the like for guiding the prize balls paid out by the player to the upper plate 21 through the prize ball outlet 23 is formed. Further, a rear cover 16d is formed on the mechanism frame setting member 16c so as to cover a rear central portion of the game board 5, and a guide path for winning balls and a winning ball processing device 18b are provided at a lower edge portion of the rear cover 16d. A rectifying gutter unit that leads to is installed. Further, the rear cover 16
An opening window corresponding to the game board control box 18c accommodating the game board control circuit is opened in the side portion of d, and a wiring holding portion 19c is formed along the side edge of the opening window A.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the structure of a ball launching device.
The ball launching device 6 includes a launching device main body 60 that launches one ball toward the game part 52, and a launching control part 6A that controls the operation of the launching device main body 60. Launcher body 60
Is a ball supply device 80 for sequentially supplying the balls one by one, a guide portion 6G for receiving the balls, a rotary arm 65 rotatable in the guide portion 6G, a motor 68 for rotationally driving the rotary arm 65, and a guide portion 6G. A launch path 70 facing the game section 52 is provided. One end of the ball supply device 80 is the upper plate 21.
The feeding gutter 8 which communicates with the other end and is opened at a part of the outer wall 61 of the guide portion 6G to feed the ball from the upper tray 21 to the guide portion 6G.
1, a ball feed sprocket 83 provided with teeth facing the bent portion 82 of the feed gutter 81, and a latching solenoid 85 for operating the ball feed sprocket 83 via a ball feed crank 84.

The guide portion 6G comprises an outer wall 61 and an inner wall 62 which are concentrically formed, and a guide passage 63 is formed between the outer wall 61 and the inner wall 62 for smoothly guiding one sphere in a circular manner. At the center thereof, a rotary shaft 68A of a motor 68 housed in a motor housing chamber 62A surrounded by an inner wall 62 projects from the motor housing chamber 62A.
One end portion 65A of the rotary arm 65 is pivotally attached to 8A. Then, when the motor 68 rotates, the rotary arm 65 rotates such that the other end portion (tip portion) 65B holds a slight fixed gap with respect to the guide passage 61. The rotation direction is the arrow I direction in the figure. Motor 68
For example, a stepping motor capable of controlling both the rotation speed and the rotation angle and the rotation direction is used.

On the lower half side of the guide portion 6G, the rotary arm 6 is provided.
In the vicinity of the position where 5 passes the lowest point and turns upward, the outer wall 6
1 is opened and the above-mentioned firing path 70 is provided. In addition, the ball sent from the feeding trough 81 is temporarily guided to a portion where the outer wall 61 of the guide portion 6G is opened to the feeding trough 81.
A ball holding portion 64 for holding at is formed by protruding into the guide passage 63.

An example of the structure of the rotary arm 65 is shown in FIG. The rotating arm 65 has a tip portion 65B as shown in the figure.
Has a step with respect to the other linear portion so as to face the guide passage 63, the tip portion 65B holds a small fixed gap with respect to the guide passage 63 as described above, and the linear portion has a motor accommodating chamber 62A. It is attached so as to maintain a constant gap with respect to the surface of. Further, the tip end portion 65B is formed in a bifurcated shape so as to open to the tip end side so as to be able to pass through the ball holding portion 64 in a non-contact manner.
5 receives only the sphere held by the sphere holding portion 64 at its bifurcated tip portion 65B and rotates, and the tip portion 65B and the sphere holding portion 64 do not interfere with each other.

An origin detection sensor 91 is provided near the rotating shaft 68A of the motor 68 near the orbit, and the rotating arm 65 is provided.
The position of the rotary arm 65 when the front end portion 65B of the above is immediately in front of the ball holding portion 64 is detected as the origin. The origin detection by the origin detection sensor 91 is performed using the origin detection lever 92. The origin detection lever 92 is
As shown in FIG. 5, the rotary shaft 68A of the motor 68 is pivotally attached to the rotary arm 65 and is rotated integrally with the rotary arm 65 at a predetermined angle (180 ° here). For the origin detection sensor 91, for example, a photo interrupter is used,
The time point when one end portion 92A of the origin detection lever 92 passes through the photo interrupter and blocks the light transmission is detected, and the detection signal is output to the emission control unit 6A as a signal indicating the origin.

Further, a residual ball detection sensor 93 is provided at the lowest point position of the guide passage 63 of the guide portion 6G. A photo interrupter is used for this residual sphere detection sensor 93 similarly to the above-mentioned origin detection sensor 91, and as shown in FIG. 6, it is detected whether or not the sphere has passed through the photo interrupter and blocked the light transmission. The detection signal is output to the emission control unit 6A.

The firing control section 6A includes a ball launching device unit 4
0 (FIG. 2), command signals to the latching solenoid 85 and the motor 68 according to the firing control program stored in the ROM based on various signals sent from the origin detection sensor 91, the remaining ball detection sensor 93, etc. Is output and the firing control is executed.

The operation of the ball launching device 6 having the above construction will be described below in order. First, the latching solenoid 85
However, as shown in FIG. 3, when the cylinder 86 is ejected in the direction of arrow J in accordance with the instruction of the collision process from the firing control unit 6A,
The ball feed crank 84 rotates about its two support shafts 84A and 84B as a fulcrum, and the ball feed sprocket 83 becomes a rotation free state. At this time, the balls P1 aligned with the feeding trough 81 rotate the ball feeding sprocket 83 in the direction of the arrow K by its own weight, and one receiving seat 84D of the ball feeding crank 84 and the teeth of the ball feeding sprocket 83. And are brought into contact with each other to stop the rotation of the ball feeding sprocket 83. As a result, the ball P1 enters between the teeth of the ball feed sprocket 83 facing the bent portion 82 of the feed trough 81, and in that state, the rotation of the ball feed sprocket 83 is stopped, so that the ball P1 is guided to the guide portion 6G. Supply is blocked.

Next, as shown in FIG. 7, when the latching solenoid 85 sucks the cylinder 86 in the direction of arrow L in accordance with the suction processing command from the firing control section 6A, the receiving seat 84D of the ball feeding crank 84 escapes. The ball feed sprocket 83 is in a free state, but at that time, the ball P1 drops and the ball P2 waiting next pushes the teeth of the ball feed sprocket 83. , And rotates in the direction of arrow M, and another tooth comes into contact with the other receiving seat 84E of the ball feeding crank 84 and stops. At this time, the ball P1 is supplied to the guide portion 6G and temporarily held by the ball holding portion 64. Then, when the latching solenoid 85 again pushes out the cylinder 86 in accordance with the command for the collision process, the ball P2 enters between the teeth of the ball feed sprocket 83 like the ball P1 in FIG. Be prepared.

The latching solenoid 85 is a cylinder 86.
When the sphere P1 is supplied to the sphere holding unit 64 by suctioning, the firing control unit 6A sends a rotation command to the motor 68 to rotate the motor 68 in a predetermined acceleration pattern. This acceleration pattern will be described later. The rotary arm 65 rotates with the rotation of the motor 68, holds the ball P1 at the tip portion 65B and guides it while accelerating the guide passage 63, and the centrifugal force accompanying the rotation at that time causes the lowermost point of the guide passage 63 to move. After that, it is fired toward the firing path 70 (arrow N in FIG. 7). The rotating arm 65 then stops at the origin position immediately before the sphere holding unit 64, and waits to launch the next sphere P2 at the origin position.

The ball P1 thus launched toward the launch path 70 will normally enter the game section 52, but if it flows backward through the launch path 70 for some reason and returns to the guide passage 63, The ball P1 has a guide passage 6 as shown in FIG.
It stops at the lowest point of 3 and is detected as a residual ball by the residual ball detection sensor 93 (FIG. 8). The generation of this residual ball may be caused by, for example, a foreign object in the middle of the firing path 70 to the foul opening 79a, or the foul opening 79a itself being blocked by the foreign object, and the return ball cannot enter the foul opening 79a.
Alternatively, it occurs when the rotational force of the rotating arm 65 is insufficient and the ball cannot reach the foul mouth 79a.

When the remaining ball detecting sensor 93 detects the above-mentioned remaining ball and the detection signal is sent to the firing control section 6A, the firing control section 6A sends a command to the latching solenoid 85 to supply the next hitting ball P2. Stop the motor 6
Since the rotation arm 65 is rotated by sending a command to the rotation arm 65, the rotation arm 65 idles without the ball to be fired and the guide passage 6
Hitting only the residual ball remaining in 3, the residual ball is fired toward the game section 52 or the foul mouth 79a and removed from the guide section 6G. After removing the residual balls, normal firing control is performed. At the time of removing the residual ball, the firing control unit 6A sets the rotational strength of the rotating arm 65 to a value equal to or higher than the minimum rotational strength required for removing the residual ball and rotates the rotating arm 65 to shoot and remove the residual ball. To do.

Here, the minimum rotational strength required to remove the residual balls is the rotational strength at which the balls reach the foul mouth 79a at a minimum, and by setting the rotational strength to be equal to or higher than the minimum rotational strength. The residual ball can be reliably removed regardless of the firing intensity currently set by the person.

By the way, when the rotational strength is too strong and the residual ball enters the game section 52, the ball is not fired at the rotational strength adjusted by the player, so the trajectory expected by the player is drawn. However, it is disadvantageous to the player,
In order to prevent such inconvenience, in this embodiment, an upper limit is set to the rotational strength, the rotational strength of the rotating arm 65 is equal to or higher than the minimum rotational strength required for removing the residual balls, and the residual balls have a game portion. It is set to be equal to or lower than the rotation strength in the range that does not reach 52. By setting the lower limit and the upper limit of the rotational strength, it is possible to reliably guide and remove the residual ball to the foul port 79a, and it is possible to reliably prevent generation of a waste ball due to the residual ball entering the game section 52. As a result, the player can be made to perform advantageous processing.

However, when the residual ball is removed with the rotational strength set above and the foul opening 79a is blocked by a foreign substance or the like, the residual ball returns to the guide portion 6G no matter how many times it is fired, and is permanent. Therefore, the rotation intensity setting as described above is applied only at the first rotation, and when the remaining balls are continuously detected, the rotation arm 65 for the second time and thereafter.
At the time of rotation, for example, a process of setting the fastest acceleration pattern and rotating it with the strongest rotation intensity to surely insert the residual ball into the game unit 52 is performed.

Further, the firing control section 6A invalidates the detection signal from the residual ball detection sensor 93 when the rotary arm 65 is located within the predetermined range R shown in FIG. The predetermined range R is a range from a point A where the rotary arm 65 is near horizontal to a point B just past the lowest point position (a range from a ° to b ° when the origin position is 0 °). is there. The predetermined range R is set in this way because when the acceleration of the rotary arm 65 is small even during the normal firing control, the sphere comes first to the lowest point after the point A where the rotary arm 65 is near the horizontal position. This is because even if it is a normal launch ball, it may be mistakenly recognized as a residual ball, and this is to prevent it. Also, since the rotating arm 65 itself passes through the residual ball detection sensor 93, it is This is to prevent misidentification as a residual ball.

In the above description, the ball feeding device 80 is constructed by using the ball feeding sprocket 83, the latching solenoid 85 and the like, but this is an example, and another configuration, for example, as shown in FIG. The cylinder 861 of the solenoid 851 is exposed to the inlet of the guide passage 63, and normally the cylinder 861 is retracted by the suction process so that the balls are continuously supplied to the ball holding portion 64, and the cylinder 861 is protruded only when the residual ball is generated. You may make it stick out and stop supply of a sphere.

Next, a detailed configuration example and control contents of the firing control section 6A will be described with reference to FIGS. 11 to 26. FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of the firing control unit. The firing control unit 6A is a processor (CPU) as shown in the figure.
Fire control is performed according to a control program stored in the ROM 601 which is mainly composed of 600. ROM 602
Stores data relating to the acceleration pattern for the motor 68, and various data is temporarily written and accessed in the RAM 603. ROM601 and RO
It may be the same as M602.

The handle portion 32 for adjusting the flight distance of the hit ball includes a firing strength adjusting portion 321 including a variable resistor and a handle stop including a limit switch for stopping the firing of the hit ball by a player at an arbitrary timing. Detector 32
2, and a touch detection unit 323 is provided that enables the ball to be shot only while the player is touching the handle 32. The firing intensity adjustment unit 321 uses the A / D converter 606 and the handle stop detection unit. The 322 and the touch detection unit 323 are each connected to the CPU 600 via the interface circuit 607.

The origin detection sensor 91 and the residual ball detection sensor 93 are also connected to the CPU 600 via the interface circuit 607, and the detection signals from the sensors 91 and 93 are input to the CPU 600. Further, the CPU 600 is connected to the hall computer 100 via an interface circuit 607. The hall computer 100 manages the entire amusement store, and outputs a firing stop signal for forcibly stopping the firing of the ball at the time of hitting, etc. to the CPU 600, and the CPU 600 commands the latching solenoid 85 (or solenoid 851) to play the ball. Stop the supply of.

Further, the motor 68 and the latching solenoid 85 are respectively connected to the C through the drivers 604 and 605.
It is connected to the PU 600 and operates according to a command signal from the CPU 600. Furthermore, CPU
The display (LED) 4 is provided to the 600 through the driver 606.
9 is connected and visually displays the error during the firing operation.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an excitation method when the above-mentioned motor 68 is a four-phase excitation type stepping motor. FIG. 12 (a) shows each phase Φ1, Φ2, when the motor 68 is normally rotated at a low speed. The pulse widths to be applied to Φ3 and Φ4, (b) is the pulse widths to be applied to each phase Φ1, Φ2, Φ3, and Φ4 when the motor 68 is normally rotated at high speed.
(C) shows the phases Φ1 and Φ when the motor 68 is rotated in the reverse direction.
The pulse widths applied to 2, Φ3 and Φ4 are shown respectively. A pulse width shorter than that at the time of low speed rotation is applied at the time of high speed rotation, and a pulse is applied to each phase Φ1 to Φ4 in the reverse order as compared with the case of normal rotation at the time of reverse rotation.

When the motor 68 is rotated in accordance with a predetermined acceleration pattern, this pulse width is sequentially changed. This acceleration pattern is stored in the ROM as described above.
It is stored in 602, and as shown in FIG.
An acceleration pattern 1, an acceleration pattern 2, an acceleration pattern 3, an acceleration pattern 4, an acceleration pattern 5 and a reverse rotation pattern are assigned to the address areas J, K, L, M, N and O of the OM 602, respectively. The acceleration patterns 1 to 5 are set as shown in FIG. 14, for example. The horizontal axis of FIG. 14 is time t, and the vertical axis is the angular velocity ω. In any of the acceleration patterns 1 to 5, the same acceleration pattern is repeated every one cycle TC. Here, one cycle TC is set to 606 ms.

The acceleration pattern 1 is a pattern having the smallest acceleration, and the accelerations increase in order as the acceleration patterns 2, 3 and 4 increase, and the acceleration of the motor 68 becomes maximum in the acceleration pattern 5. t0 is the start point of one cycle TC, but t0
The motor 68 does not rotate between 0 and t1, and in any of the acceleration patterns 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 the rotating arm 6
No. 5 stops at the origin and is in a standby state. When t1 is the actual rotation start time, the acceleration is performed according to each acceleration pattern from t1 to t2, the maximum acceleration is obtained at t2, then the speed is decelerated rapidly, the vehicle returns to the origin at t3, and is stopped.
To complete. Further, at the time t when the maximum acceleration is obtained in each cycle
Each time interval of 2, t21, t22, ... Is also constant at TC. Among these acceleration patterns 1 to 5, the acceleration pattern 5 reaches the maximum speed in the shortest time and the angular velocity at that time is the maximum, so that the firing intensity is also the maximum. Further, as the above-described acceleration pattern having a rotation intensity that is equal to or higher than the minimum rotation intensity required for removing the residual balls and does not reach the game unit 52, for example, the acceleration pattern 2
Will be applicable.

In these acceleration patterns 1 to 5, t2, t21, t22, ... Are release points at which the rotary arm 65 reaches the lowest point of the guide passage 63, that is, a ball is launched toward the launch path 70. This is the point of time, which is t2, t21, t22, ... In this embodiment.
By changing the time width from t0 to t1 for each acceleration pattern, the same time point is set in any of the acceleration patterns 1 to 5. Therefore, even if the player operates the handle portion 32 to change the firing intensity, the balls are always released at a constant interval, and the player can perform the handle operation with a stable feeling.

The selection of the acceleration patterns 1 to 5 is performed by the firing intensity adjusting section 321 of the handle section 32. The firing intensity adjusting unit 321 includes a firing intensity adjusting volume of a range of 0 to 5V including a variable resistor as shown in FIG. 15, and the selection voltage Vin when the player operates the handle portion 32 is used as firing intensity data. , A / D converter 60
In step 6, the full scale is converted into a digital value of 0 to 255, and the CPU 600 reads the digital value and selects an acceleration pattern. FIG. 16 shows an example of selecting the acceleration patterns 1 to 5 with respect to the selection voltage Vin. In this example, the digital value is 152 when the selection voltage Vin is 3.0 V, and at this time, the CPU 600 selects the acceleration pattern 3 from the acceleration pattern table of FIG.

The acceleration pattern data for the motor 68 is given in the ROM 602 as a data string as shown in FIG. FIG. 17 shows the acceleration pattern data in the address area J for the acceleration pattern 1. CPU
600 indicates the acceleration pattern data of the ROM 602 as 2
The signals are read in the order of addresses every ms, and when the read data is "1", the pulse width of each phase Φ1 to Φ4 of the motor 68 is controlled by outputting a pulse ON signal for that phase Φ, and the motor 68 is set to a predetermined value. Rotate in the acceleration pattern of. The acceleration pattern data is one cycle (606 ms)
It consists of minute data.

Further, the ROM 602 stores an origin stop time table for acceleration patterns as shown in FIG. This origin stop time DT is the motor 68
Is a time until the motor 68 starts to move and the rotating arm 65 surely separates from the origin, and if the rotating arm 65 does not rotate to some extent even if the motor 68 starts to move, the origin detecting sensor 91 is turned on. To OFF
It is provided to prevent switching to. After the origin stop time DT has elapsed, the signal state from the origin detection sensor 91 certainly indicates the non-origin. As will be described later, the origin stop time DT is monitored to detect an operation error or the like of the rotary arm 65.

Next, the detailed contents of the firing control will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. First, FIG.
It will be described from the flowchart showing the entire firing control of No. 9.
Initial 1 in the first loop after starting by turning on the power
Since the completion flag is not set, the initial 1 process described later is executed to set the initial 1 completion flag, and the interval timer built in the CPU 600 is started to generate an interrupt (INT) every 2 ms (S1, S2). After the initial 1 completion flag is set in S2, input processing (S
3), the output process (S4), the firing prohibition process (S5), the residual ball detection process (S6), the launch ball supply process (S7), and the launch process (S8) are time-divisionally executed in an endless loop. Wait for the next interrupt. The total processing time per interrupt is surely shorter than the interval time of 2 ms. The result of each process is stored in the work area of the RAM 603 so that it can be connected to the next process.

In the initial 1 process of S2, first S
The work area (timer, flag, etc.) of the RAM 603 is cleared in 2-1, the CPU built-in I / O port is set in S2-2, and the interval timer is set to 2 ms in S2-3.
Then, the interval timer interrupt is enabled (S2-4), and the initial completion flag is set in S2-5. The initial 1 process is not executed until the power is turned on again after the power is turned off once.

In the input process of S3, first, in S3-1, the A / D conversion data (emission intensity data) from the A / D converter 606 is read, and then the presence or absence of various input signals is determined. That is, in S3-2, it is determined whether or not there is an input from the steering wheel stop detection unit 322, and if there is an input, the steering wheel stop ON timer is incremented and the steering wheel stop OFF timer is cleared (S3-3). Handlebar stop O
Clear the N timer and stop handle O
The FF timer is incremented (S3-4). S3
In -5, it is determined whether or not there is an input from the touch detection unit 323, and if there is an input, the touch ON timer is incremented and the touch OFF timer is cleared (S3-6). If there is no input, the touch ON timer is cleared. At the same time, the touch OFF timer is incremented (S3-7).

In S3-8, it is determined whether or not the firing stop signal is input from the hall computer 100, and if there is an input, the firing stop signal ON timer is incremented and the firing stop signal OFF timer is cleared (S3
-9) If there is no input, the firing stop signal ON timer is cleared and the firing stop signal OFF timer is incremented (S3-10). In S3-11, it is determined whether or not there is an input from the origin detection sensor 91, and if there is an input, the origin ON timer is incremented and the origin OFF timer is cleared (S3-12). If there is no input, the origin ON timer is cleared. And the origin OFF timer is incremented (S3-1
3).

Subsequently, in S3-14, the rotation arm 65 is incremented or decremented for each step angle of the motor 68 in the output processing (S4) described later so that the rotation arm 65 moves between the points A and B. If it is determined that it is located between the points A and B, the process is terminated without performing the input processing. If not, the process proceeds to S3-15 and the residual ball is moved. It is determined whether or not there is an input from the detection sensor 93, and if there is an input, the remaining ball O
Increment the N timer and turn off the remaining ball
Clear the timer (S3-16), if there is no input, clear the remaining ball ON timer and clear the remaining ball OF.
The F timer is incremented (S3-17). By this input processing, it becomes possible to surely determine whether each type of input is ON or OFF simply by checking each timer.

In the output process of S4, first, a process for instructing the sucking action or the projecting action for the latching solenoid 85 is performed. That is, in S4-1, it is determined whether or not the suction flag to be set or cleared in the launch ball supply process (S7) described later is set, and when it is set, the launch ball supply process (S7) described below is also performed. ), The suction timer whose timer value is set is decremented, the output of the latching solenoid suction port built into the CPU 600 is turned on (S4-2), and when the suction flag is cleared, the latching solenoid suction port The output is turned off (S4-3). Next, the same processing as the suction processing (S4-1 to S4-3) is performed for the bump processing (S4-4 to S4-6). The sucking process and the projecting process are handled so as not to be turned on at the same time in the launch ball supply process described later.

Subsequently, processing for instructing the rotation operation of the motor 68 is performed. That is, first, the firing process (S
When the rotation timer whose timer value is set in 8) is not 0, after decrementing the rotation timer, it is determined whether or not the forward rotation flag which is also set or cleared in the firing process (S8) described later is set. Yes (S4
-7 to S4-9). When the rotation timer is 0, S
4-8 is skipped and it is determined whether the forward rotation flag is set directly. The rotation timer is used to control the number of shots per minute, and the motor 68
It is used to judge the error status of.

When the forward rotation flag is set, forward rotation processing is performed. That is, the data at the current address is read from the acceleration pattern data stored in the ROM 602, and the data is output to the motor output port built in the CPU 600. After that, the address is incremented to prepare for the next interrupt processing (S4-1).
0, S4-11). Next, the data at the time of this interrupt (current data) is compared with the data at the time of the previous interrupt (previous data). If they do not match, it means that the motor 68 has rotated by one step angle. Increment the counter. After that, the data of this time is copied to the data storage area of the previous time and is used for the next rotation determination of the motor 68 (S4-12 to S4-14).

When the forward rotation flag is cleared in S4-9, it is determined whether or not the reverse rotation flag which is set or cleared in the firing process (S8) described later is set, and the reverse rotation flag is set. If it is set, reverse rotation processing is performed. This reverse rotation processing is executed when the rotation timer (the timer set value is determined by the number of shots per minute) has timed up and the motor 68 has not made one rotation and has not returned to the origin (when the motor rotation is locked). It
Basically the same processing as the normal rotation processing is performed, but the difference is
If there is no rotation timer and if the current data and the previous data do not match, the rotation angle counter is decremented (S4-9, S4-15 to S4-20).

In the firing prohibiting process of S5, it is first determined whether or not the rotation timer is 0, and it is executed only when the rotation timer is 0, that is, when the motor 68 is at the origin. Do not stop at points other than the origin (S5-1). And next 3
One launch permission condition, that is, (1) no input from the handle stop detector 322. (2) Touch detection unit 323
There is input from. (3) No firing stop signal from the hall computer 100. The firing prohibition flag is cleared only when all of the conditions are satisfied, and the firing prohibition flag is set when any one of the conditions is not satisfied (S5-2 to S5-).
6).

In the residual ball detecting process of S6, when the rotary arm 65 is not located between the points A and B, the residual ball presence flag is set when the residual ball is detected (S).
6-1 to S6-3), when the motor 68 starts rotating (starts one cycle) and the rotation timer reaches 604 ms, if the residual ball is not detected, the residual ball presence flag is cleared (S6-4 to S6-). 6). It should be noted that in order to idle the motor 68 for one rotation or more when the residual ball is detected, it takes about 1 second before it is determined that there is no residual ball (S).
6-4). However, the time setting for this one second is not particularly limited, and may be made to idle even after any number of rotations.

When a residual ball is generated again before 1 second has passed without a residual ball, the rotary arm 65 continues from that point until there is no new residual ball for 1 second.
To idle. When the rotary arm 65 is not located between the points A and B, and the residual ball is detected for a long time while the motor 68 is rotating, the residual ball detection sensor 93
Therefore, a sensor error warning is displayed using the display device 49, and the subsequent timer interrupt processing is stopped (S6-7 to S6-10). When the residual ball presence flag is set, the launch ball is not supplied in the launch ball supply process described below, and the launch intensity is automatically set to the launch intensity set for residual ball removal in the launch process described later. Set.

In the above-mentioned launch ball supply processing of S7, it is not in the firing prohibited state (the firing prohibition flag is cleared),
If there is no remaining ball (the flag with a remaining ball is cleared), the latching solenoid 85 is made to perform the process of projecting from the sucked state 250 ms before the start of rotation of the motor 68 (start of one cycle, rotation timer = 606 ms). One shot ball is supplied to the ball holding section 64 by rotating the ball (S
7-1 to S7-11). The motor 6 starts the supply of the balls.
250 ms before the start of the rotation next to 8 is set in consideration of the rolling time of the ball to the ball holding portion 64. When the firing prohibition flag is set, the ball supply is stopped without performing the collision process.

When there is no remaining ball, the operating time of the latching solenoid 85 is set in the sucking timer and the bump timer at the start of the launching ball supply process (S7-3), and the sucking timer is timed up to 0 ms. Up to this point, only the sucking process is performed without performing the bumping process (S7-5), and the bumping process is performed after the time is up (after the sucking process is completed) (S7-8 to S7-11). Since the suction flag and the collision flag are set only during each processing (before the time is up), the outputs of the suction processing and the collision processing to the latching solenoid 85 are not turned on at the same time. The firing process of S8 is divided into three processes: (1) normal process, (2) process with residual ball, and (3) initial process. Each process will be described below in order.

(1) Normal processing (S8-1 to S8-12,
S8-18 to S8-24) The motor 68 is rotationally driven assuming that the firing condition is satisfied when the firing prohibition flag is cleared and the rotation timer becomes 0. When the firing condition is satisfied, the acceleration pattern corresponding to the emission intensity data from the A / D converter 606 is selected, and the head address of the acceleration pattern table is set to the address of the acceleration pattern data. Also, the origin stop time D set for each acceleration pattern
Origin stop time D of the acceleration pattern from T (Fig. 18)
Select T. After that, the rotation timer is set to 606 ms for firing about 99 balls per minute, and the forward rotation flag is set. After that, the normal rotation processing of the motor 68 described above is performed.

Until the origin stop time DT elapses even after the rotation is started, the rotation arm 65 stops at the origin or is in the vicinity of the origin, so the normal rotation process is performed as it is, and during that time, the origin stop time DT is monitored by the rotation timer. .
After the origin stop time DT has elapsed, the origin ON timer is monitored and the return of the rotary arm 65 to the origin is monitored. When the return to the origin is detected, it is determined that the rotary arm 65 has made one rotation and the return is normal. The rotation flag is cleared and the motor 68 is stopped.

An error occurs during this normal processing, and the origin O
When the N timer operates for a long time, for example, 606 ms or more, the rotation arm 65 has not rotated from the origin for a time corresponding to one rotation, or the origin detection sensor 91 has a failure, so error processing is performed. It should be noted that there are various means for detecting that the rotation is not performed from the origin, and for example, a rotation timer may be used for a short time after the origin stop time DT elapses.
For example, if 10 ms is measured and the origin is detected during that time, it means that the rotary arm 65 continues to stop at the origin.

Error detection (a ≧ 606 m in S8-11)
At the time s), it is considered that the motor 68 did not rotate due to the locking of the motor 68 due to, for example, foreign matter, so the reverse rotation process is performed for a predetermined time, for example, the number of data in the acceleration pattern data table. This processing is performed by clearing the forward rotation flag and setting the reverse rotation flag. If the rotating arm 65 does not rotate normally even after performing this process, the same process is repeated and the motor 68 is retried at the time of retrying 5 times.
Alternatively, an error warning display of the origin detection sensor 91 is displayed using the display device 49, and the subsequent timer interrupt processing is stopped. In addition, the rotation timer has timed up and 0 ms
Even if the origin is not detected at the time of, the motor 68 is considered to have locked at a position other than the origin, and the same error processing as described above is performed.

In addition to the error display by the display 49, various indicator lamps 58 provided on the front side of the pachinko machine 1 are used.
... blinks at a different cycle than usual, and all indicator lights 5
8 ... all at once, or by turning on the call lamps that are arranged on the pachinko island screen corresponding to each pachinko machine 1 and turning on the three-colored lights provided at the island edge. An alarm may be issued.

(2) Processing when there is a residual ball (S8-1
5) Basically, it is the same as the normal processing, but the difference from the normal processing is that when the residual ball presence flag (set / cleared in the residual ball detection processing of S6) is set at the start of rotation, For example, the acceleration pattern 2 is automatically selected so that the residual ball is surely guided to the foul port 79a. Here, it is assumed that the acceleration pattern 2 is equal to or higher than the minimum rotational strength required for removing the residual balls and is within a range in which the balls do not reach the game unit 52. Although not shown in this flow chart, when the remaining balls return to the guide portion 6G repeatedly many times, for example, the acceleration pattern 5 is automatically selected as the second and subsequent firing intensities, and the strongest The residual balls may be sent to the game unit 52 and removed at the emission strength.

(3) Initial processing (S8-13, 1)
4, S8-16, 17) This process is for rotating the rotating arm 65 to move it to the origin even when the firing permission condition is not satisfied when the rotating arm 65 is not at the origin position when the power is turned on. Yes, the process after the start of rotation is the same as the normal process.

As described above, in this embodiment, when the residual ball is detected, the supply of the ball is stopped and the rotary arm 65 is rotated, so that the rotary arm 65 idles without the ball to be fired. The remaining balls can be removed from the guide portion by hitting only the remaining balls remaining on the guide portion 6G. Therefore, the returning balls do not become in a state of connecting beads, and the balls can always be normally fired.

Further, when the residual ball is detected, the rotational strength of the rotary arm 65 is set to a value equal to or higher than the minimum rotational strength required to remove the residual ball and idles. Therefore, it is related to the firing strength set by the player. It is possible to reliably remove the residual sphere. Further, since the upper limit is set to the rotational strength of the rotating arm 65 when removing the residual balls, and the rotational strength is set to be equal to or lower than the rotational strength within the range where the residual balls do not reach the game unit 52, the residual balls are reliably guided to the foul port 79a and removed. In addition, it is possible to reliably prevent the generation of waste balls due to the remaining balls entering the game section 52, so that the player can perform an advantageous process.

Further, since the ball supply device 80 is provided and the supply of the balls is stopped as necessary, not only when the remaining balls are generated but also when an abnormality is detected in another firing mechanism or when the hall computer 1 is used.
It is possible to promptly stop the supply of the sphere even when the firing stop signal from 00 is received. In the above description, the number of acceleration patterns is five, but the number of patterns is not limited to five and can be increased or decreased as necessary.

[0064]

As described above, according to the ball launching device of the gaming machine of the present invention, when the residual ball is detected, the supply of the ball is stopped and the rotary arm is rotated, so that the rotary arm shoots. It is possible to remove the residual balls from the guide portion by idling without a power ball and hitting only the residual balls remaining on the guide portion. Therefore, the returning balls do not become in a state of connecting beads, and the balls can always be normally fired. Also, when the residual ball is detected, the rotation strength of the rotating arm is set to a value equal to or higher than the minimum rotation strength required to remove the residual ball, and idling is performed. Therefore, regardless of the firing strength set by the player, the rotation strength can be ensured. Residual spheres can be removed. Furthermore, an upper limit is set on the rotational strength of the rotary arm when removing the residual balls, and the rotational strength is set to be equal to or higher than the minimum rotational strength required for removing the residual balls and not exceeding the range in which the residual balls do not reach the game board. Therefore, it is possible to reliably guide and remove the residual ball to the foul mouth, and it is possible to reliably prevent the generation of a waste ball due to the residual ball entering the game board, so that the player can perform an advantageous process. be able to.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view in which a part of a pachinko machine is cut away.

FIG. 2 is a rear view of the pachinko machine.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of a ball launching device.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a rotating arm.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration example of an origin detection sensor.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a residual ball detection sensor.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of sphere supply by a sphere launching device.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of residual ball generation in the ball launching device.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an invalid range of residual ball detection.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a second configuration example of the ball supply device.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a firing control unit.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an excitation method of a motor.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an acceleration pattern data table.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing acceleration patterns 1 to 5.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a configuration of a firing strength adjusting section of the handle section.

FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram of acceleration pattern selection.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an example of data of acceleration pattern 1.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an origin stop time table.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing a flowchart of the entire firing control.

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing a flowchart of an initial 1 process.

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing a flowchart of input processing.

FIG. 22 is a diagram showing a flowchart of output processing.

FIG. 23 is a diagram showing a flowchart of output processing.

FIG. 24 is a diagram showing a flowchart of firing prohibition processing.

FIG. 25 is a diagram showing a flowchart of residual ball detection processing.

FIG. 26 is a diagram showing a flowchart of a launch ball supply process.

FIG. 27 is a diagram showing a flowchart of a firing process.

FIG. 28 is a diagram showing a flowchart of a firing process.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Pachinko machine 6 Ball launching device 6A Launch control part 6G Guide part 32 Handle part 60 Launching device body 63 Guide passage 64 Ball holding part 65 Rotating arm 68 Motor 80 Ball feeding device 81 Feeding trough 85 Latching solenoid 91 Origin detection sensor 93 Residual Sphere detection sensor 600 Processor (CPU) 601 ROM (for program) 602 ROM (for data)

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A game ball is rotated by including a guide unit for receiving the game balls sequentially supplied one by one, a rotating arm rotatable within the guide unit, and a rotating arm drive means for rotationally driving the rotating arm. In a ball launching device of a gaming machine in which the arm is accelerated to guide in the guide part and the centrifugal force associated with the rotation launches it toward the game board from the guide part, the game ball remaining in the guide part after the launch operation by the rotating arm. Residual ball detecting means for detecting as a residual ball, supply stopping means for stopping the supply of the game sphere to the guide portion, and commanding the supply stopping means to stop the supply of the game sphere at the time of detecting the residual ball , Removal operation command means for instructing the rotation arm drive means to rotate the rotation arm after the supply of the game balls and removing the residual balls by the rotation, Ball launcher of the gaming machine, characterized in that. 2. The removing operation commanding means sets the rotational strength of the rotary arm to a value equal to or higher than the minimum rotational strength required for removing the residual balls and rotates the rotary arm. Ball launcher for game machines. 3. The removal operation command means sets the rotation strength of the rotating arm to a rotation strength in a range not less than the minimum rotation strength necessary for removing the residual balls and not allowing the residual balls to reach the game board. The ball launching device for a gaming machine according to claim 1, which is rotated. 4. The ball launching device for a gaming machine according to claim 1, wherein the removal operation commanding means invalidates the detection of the residual ball when the rotary arm is located within a predetermined range. 5. The ball launching device for a gaming machine according to claim 1, wherein the supply stopping means operates not only when a residual ball is detected, but also when a launching stop signal is input from the outside.