JPH09276482A - Ball launcher - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) Abstract: The present invention relates to a ball launching device, and an object thereof is to prevent variations in launching distance due to the size of a ball. An operating unit, a current control unit 9 connected to the operating unit, a coil drive unit 4 connected to the current control unit 9, and a drive coil 2 connected to the coil drive unit 4.
a, 3a, a yoke having a space in which the drive coils 2a, 3a are mounted, a rail for firing a ball provided penetrating into the space of the yoke, and a rail for firing at a predetermined position in the space of the yoke. A detection unit 13 for detecting that the sphere has arrived, and the detection unit 13 has a determination unit for determining the size of the sphere.

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 used for a pachinko machine or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, there has been proposed a launching device using a drive coil for launching a ball onto a pachinko machine base surface.

[0003]

The problem in the above-mentioned conventional example is that the firing distance varies depending on the size of the ball.

[0004] That is, the force on the ball by the drive coil is
As shown by the line b in FIG. 2, as the ball approaches the drive coil, the suction force in the firing direction becomes stronger, and then the suction force gradually decreases toward the midpoint of the magnetic field of the drive coil. When the drive coil is energized, the suction force in the direction of sucking the sphere in the direction opposite to the firing direction, that is, in the deceleration direction, as indicated by the broken line, becomes stronger, and eventually decreases as the sphere separates.

In the conventional one, the current to be supplied to the drive coil is determined regardless of the size of the sphere, but in the large sphere, the distance from the drive coil is already short in the standby position, so a large driving force is given, Therefore, it will fly farther than when it is a small ball. That is, the flight distance varies depending on the size of the ball.

Therefore, the present invention aims to reduce variations in the firing distance.

[0007]

In order to achieve this object, a ball launching device of the present invention comprises an operating section, a current control section connected to the operating section, and a coil connected to the current control section. A drive unit, a drive coil connected to the coil drive unit, a yoke having a gap in which the drive coil is mounted, a rail for firing a ball provided through the gap of the yoke, and the yoke. And a detection unit that detects that a sphere to be fired has reached a predetermined position in the void, the detection unit having a determination unit that determines the size of the sphere.

With the above arrangement, the driving coil is driven by determining the size of the ball, and therefore the variation in the firing distance due to the size of the ball is less likely to occur.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an operation unit, a current control unit connected to the operation unit,
A coil drive unit connected to the current control unit, a drive coil connected to the coil drive unit, a yoke having a void in which the drive coil is mounted, and a through hole provided in the void of the yoke. A ball launching device having a rail for launching a ball and a detector for detecting that the ball to be launched has reached a predetermined position in the gap of the yoke, the detector having a determination means for determining the size of the ball. It is what

With the above arrangement, the drive coil is driven by determining the size of the sphere, so that variations in the firing distance due to the size of the sphere are less likely to occur.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the detection unit compares the voltage generated by the current flowing from the coil driving unit to the driving coil with a reference value.
The ball launching device according to claim 1, wherein variations in launch distance due to the size of the ball are less likely to occur by comparing a voltage generated by a current flowing in a drive coil that varies depending on the size of the ball and a reference value. To do.

The invention according to claim 3 further comprises detecting
The ball launching device according to claim 1, wherein the current flowing through the drive coil and a reference value are compared with each other, and the current flowing through the drive coil, which fluctuates depending on the size of the ball, is compared with the reference value. This makes it difficult to cause variations in the firing distance due to large and small.

Further, the invention according to claim 4 is the ball launching device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the reference value is formed by a reference value setting part connected to a current control part. Therefore, the reference value is also changed to improve the accuracy.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a ball such as a pachinko ball made of a magnetic material. Reference numerals 2 and 3 denote first and second electromagnets for generating magnetic force, which have first and second drive coils (hereinafter referred to as coils) 2a and 3a, respectively, and these first and second coils 2a , 3a are controlled via the coil drive unit 4. Reference numeral 5 denotes a yoke made of a magnetic core material having a high magnetic permeability, and forms a magnetic path of the first and second electromagnets 2 and 3. The magnetic poles 2b of the first and second electromagnets 2 and 3 facing each other are different from S poles and 3b are different from N poles. Reference numeral 6 denotes a first rail made of a non-magnetic material, which is provided so as to penetrate between the opposing magnetic poles 2b and 3b in order to hit the ball 1 smoothly in a predetermined direction. First
A second rail 10 separated from the first rail 6 in the firing direction of the ball 1 is provided on the rail 6. Reference numeral 7 denotes an operation unit operated by the player, which transmits its rotation angle to the current control unit 9 by means of a mechanically interlocked angle sensor (7b in FIG. 4). If the rotation angle is large, the coil drive unit 4 is the first. , The value of the current passed through the second coils 2a, 3a is increased.

That is, when the player (operator) rotates the angle sensor 7b by a predetermined angle via the operation section 7 in such a configuration, a signal according to the rotation angle is transmitted to the current control section 9, and the signal is transmitted. Based on the signal, the coil driving unit 4 outputs the first,
The amount of power to the second coils 2a and 3a is determined. Due to this energization, a magnetic force is generated in the first and second electromagnets 2 and 3, whereby a magnetic flux flows from the magnetic pole 3 b of the second electromagnet 3 to the magnetic pole 2 b of the first electromagnet 2. A magnetic field is generated as shown in FIG. As a result, a magnetic force acts on the balls 1 supplied one by one to the first rail 6 as shown by the line b in FIG. As a result, the ball 1 moves on the first rail 6 on the magnetic poles 2b, 3
b, the first and second coils 2a, 2a, which are obtained when the ball 1 approaches the center of the magnetic poles 2b, 3b.
When the current (or voltage) applied to 3a decreases, point A (when sphere 1 has a large diameter) and point B (when sphere 1 has a small diameter) in FIG. 3 are detected by detection unit 13 (FIG. 4). Then, this signal is transmitted from the detection unit 13 to the coil driving unit 4 and the first and second coils 2 are transmitted.
The energizing current to a and 3a is cut off. Then, the ball 1 travels on the rail 6 in the leftward direction in FIG. 1 due to inertia, and is launched. At first, the sphere 1 travels on the first rail 6 between the magnetic poles 2b and 3b, but at the same time, the sphere 1 is also attracted downward to the magnetic pole 3b.
When the energizing currents to a and 3a are cut off, the first rail 6 vibrates and vibrates, and the vibration is transmitted to the ball 1 traveling on the first rail 6. However, in the present embodiment, the first rail 6 is formed only up to the vicinity of the second coil 3a in the ball firing direction. Since the vehicle travels on the second rail 10 separated from the rail 6, the influence of the vibration of the first rail 6 is eliminated, and the variation in the firing distance is reduced. Note that c in FIG. 2 shows the ball speed, and d shows the current flowing through the first and second coils 2a and 3a.

FIG. 3 shows the driving current waveforms flowing through the coils 2a and 3a.
The respective waveforms of the ball firing state are shown.

The E line in FIG. 3 is a reference value, and the sphere 1 is the magnetic pole 2
When approaching between b and 3b, the magnetic permeability between them increases, and as a result, the magnetic flux tries to increase and counter electromotive force is generated.
As a result, the drive current decreases and the reference value E is cut downward. When the sphere 1 has a large diameter, the sphere 1 has magnetic poles 2b, 3
Since the distance between b is short, it receives a strong magnetic force and approaches between the magnetic poles 2b and 3b in a short time, and as a result, the drive current flowing through the coils 2a and 3a decreases faster. Below the value E.

On the other hand, when the sphere 1 has a small diameter, the magnetic poles 2b,
The time for approaching 3b is delayed, and falls below the reference value E at point B.

When the sphere 1 has a large diameter, it receives a strong magnetic force as described above, and unless the magnetic force is reduced earlier, it will fly farther than the set value. Therefore, as shown in FIG. At this point, the current supply to the coils 2a and 3a was stopped.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the ball launching apparatus of the present invention. In addition to the angle sensor 7b, the handle 7a constituting the operation unit 7 in FIG. 4 includes a touch sensor 7c which is closed when the handle 7a is touched with a hand and an activation switch 7d which is closed when the handle 7a is rotated. ing.

The angle sensor 7b is connected to a current control section 9 which constitutes the coil driving section 4, and its output is supplied to the coil driving section 4.

That is, in this embodiment, the first and second
The pulse current is supplied to the coils 2a and 3a of FIG. 3 as shown in FIG. 3, but the larger the turning amount of the handle 7a, the larger the pulse current, and conversely, the smaller the pulse width.

This is because the higher the current is, the faster the initial velocity of the sphere to be fired is. Therefore, the sphere 1 which blocks the magnetic field is correspondingly the magnetic pole 2b,
It quickly reaches the direction of the central point 15 of 3b. That is, the time (shown in FIG. 3) at which the current (or voltage) applied to the first and second coils 2a and 3a falls below the reference value E can be detected earlier. Therefore, since the energizing current is cut off by this signal, the pulse width becomes smaller accordingly.

Reference numeral 13A in FIG. 4 is a reference value setting unit for setting the reference value E. Since the absolute value of the pulse current supplied to the coils 2a and 3a increases or decreases according to the operation amount of the handle 7a, The standard value must be changed accordingly. And this reference value E and the coils 2a, 3a
The drive current is cut off by comparing the drive current flowing through the comparator 13B.

The relationship between the first rail 6 and the second rail 10 in FIG. 1 is that the second rail 10 is provided below and in the wavelength direction of the first rail 6. This dimension D is about 1 mm. Further, since the separated gap 30 is larger than the diameter of the ball 1 and smaller than twice the diameter of the ball 1, even if the ball 1 that could not reach the pachinko base surface passes through the second rail 10. Even if it comes back, it will be returned from this gap 30 to the lower ball tray of the pachinko machine without returning to the firing ball stop position on the first rail 6. The first rail 6 is bent at an acute angle downward with respect to the ball firing direction. Furthermore, since the second rail 10 has a sharp bend toward the gap 30, the ball 1 can be smoothly returned. It is desirable that the distance E from the center 15 of the magnetic field to the end face of the first rail 6 bent at an acute angle is short in order to reduce the vibration of the first rail 6. In the present embodiment, this distance E is substantially equal to the distance F from the center 15 of the magnetic field to the stopper 6a.

Further, since the mounting portion for the first rail 6 is formed on the upper portion of the bobbin 3c constituting the second coil 3a, it has a function of suppressing the vibration of the first rail 6.

[0027]

As described above, according to the present invention, the operation section, the current control section connected to the operation section, the coil drive section connected to the current control section, and the coil drive section are connected. A drive coil, a yoke having an air gap in which the drive coil is mounted, a rail for firing a ball provided penetrating the air gap of the yoke, and a ball fired at a predetermined position in the air gap of the yoke reach. And a detection unit for detecting that the detection unit has performed, and the detection unit has a determination unit for determining the size of the sphere.

With the above arrangement, the driving coil is driven by determining the size of the ball, so that the variation in the firing distance due to the size of the ball is less likely to occur.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a ball launching device showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a waveform diagram showing the magnetic field and the like of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a waveform diagram showing the drive current of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the entire electric circuit of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Ball 2a 1st coil 3a 2nd coil 4 Coil drive part 5 Yoke 6 1st rail 7 Operation part 9 Current control part 10 2nd rail 13 Detection part 30 Gap

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An operating section, a current control section connected to this operating section, a coil drive section connected to this current control section, a drive coil connected to this coil drive section, and this drive coil A yoke having a mounted void, a rail for firing a ball provided penetrating the void of the yoke, and a detection unit for detecting arrival of the ball to be fired at a predetermined position in the void of the yoke. A sphere launching device comprising: a detecting unit, the detecting unit having a determining unit for determining a size of the sphere. 2. The ball launching device according to claim 1, wherein the detection unit is configured to compare a voltage generated by a current flowing from the coil driving unit to the driving coil with a reference value. 3. The ball launching device according to claim 1, wherein the detector is configured to compare the current flowing through the drive coil with a reference value. 4. The ball launching device according to claim 2, wherein the reference value is formed by a reference value setting unit connected to the current control unit.