JPH11207016A - Medal recovering conveyer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To maintain a medal always pure and to unnecessitate medal carrying operation for grinding without using a large-scale and expensive grinder. SOLUTION: At a medal recovering conveyer 27 carrying a medal overflowing from plural game devices to a recovery box, a purifying means 13 for removing dust and fat stuck to the surface of a medal is provided closely to the carrying, path of a conveyer 11 or between the carrying path terminal and the recovering box of the conveyer 11. The means 13 is constituted of a flexible partition board 15 partitioning a carrying space over the conveyer, e.g. into a small space 21, a rotary brush 17 arranged within the small space to be rotate-driven to be in contact with a medal 12 under carrying, and a dust collector 19 sucking air within the small space to collect dust and fat separated from the medal 12.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a medal collecting conveyor for conveying medals used in gaming machines such as slot machines.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A gaming machine, for example, a slot machine 1
Are generally installed in a group of so-called slot islands in which a large number of units are arranged as shown in FIG. In this example, the slot machines 1 are alternately arranged with the medal lending machines 3. A medal collection box 5 is provided on the slot island. In the collection box 5, medals from the individual slot machines 1 are transported by a medal collection conveyor 7. Each slot machine 1 is provided with a storage tank (not shown) to store a predetermined amount of medals. However, if the medal storage amount exceeds the predetermined amount, overflow occurs to the collection conveyor 7. Thus, it is collected in the collection box 5 provided on the slot island.

By the way, dust generated by contact between medals or contact between a medal and a device, fats and oils by hand, etc. adhere to medals which are game media of the slot machine 1. These dusts and oils adhere to the surface of the medal as dirt that cannot be easily removed by using the medal for a long time. Conventionally, in order to remove such dirt, a dedicated polishing machine is used, and the collection box 5 in which the medal storage amount is a predetermined amount is periodically set in a polishing machine installed in another place, and the surface of the medal is removed. Was scraped off by polishing.

[0004]

As described above, in order to keep medals in a clean state, a polishing machine for periodically removing adhered dirt has been used. As this polishing machine, for example, a nylon micro-cylindrical abrasive (referred to as a pellet) and a medal are combined, and while rotating with a spiral stirrer, the dirt fixed on the medal is scraped off with the pellet. In addition, there is a method of cleaning dirt stuck to a medal using hot water. However, these polishers are for removing stubborn dirt adhered to the medal surface, and are large-scale and expensive. Also, every time the medal storage amount reaches a predetermined amount,
Heavy collection boxes had to be transported to the polisher, resulting in periodic and tedious work. If an automatic polishing machine is installed on a slot island in order to eliminate such a transportation work, a large installation space is required and equipment costs are increased. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and is capable of always maintaining a medal in a clean state without using a large-scale and expensive polishing machine, and eliminating a medal transportation operation for polishing. The purpose is to provide a conveyor.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a medal collecting conveyor for conveying medals overflowing from a plurality of gaming machines to a collecting box. Purification means for removing dust and grease adhering to the medal surface is provided near the transport path or between the end of the conveyor and the collection box.

[0006] In this medal collection conveyor, every time a medal is conveyed by the conveyor, dust and oils and fats adhering to the medal are automatically removed by the purifying means, and dirt does not remain on the medal for a long period of time. Will be removed before sticking to the medal. As a result, the medals are always kept in a clean state,
There is no need to remove the fixed dirt.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the medal collecting conveyer, the purifying means includes a flexible partition plate for dividing a conveying space on the conveyer into a small space; It is characterized by comprising a rotating brush that comes into contact with the dust and a dust collecting device that sucks air in the small space and collects the dust and oil separated from the medal.

In this medal collection conveyor, medals to which dust or fat adheres are conveyed by the conveyor and pass through the rotating brush of the purifying means, where the dust or fat adhered to the surface is separated and cleaned. The separated dusts and fats are sucked and collected by the dust collecting device together with the air in the small space.

A medal collecting conveyor according to claim 3, wherein said purifying means is provided with a drop tube for passing said medals falling from the end of the conveying path of said conveyor, and a fixed brush provided in said drop tube for contacting said medals falling. And a dust collecting device that sucks air in the drop tube and collects the dust and oil separated from the medal.

In this medal collection conveyor, the medals to which dust or fat adheres are conveyed by the conveyor, and when they reach the end of the conveyor, they fall from the end and pass through the drop tube of the purifying means. As the medal passes through the drop tube, dust and grease adhering to the surface are separated and cleaned. The separated dusts and fats are sucked and collected by the dust collecting device together with the air in the drop tube.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the medal collecting conveyer, the purifying means is provided between an end of a conveyor path of the conveyer and the collecting box, and holds only the diametrical ends of the medal from front and back of the medal. And a pair of substrates detachably mounted on the rail transporting means and connected via a hinge, and the rail transporting means are mounted on the rail transporting means. And a purifying plate for bringing a pair of fibrous bodies provided on the inner facing surface of the substrate into contact with the front and back surfaces of the medal being conveyed.

In this medal collection conveyor, medals to which dust or fat adheres are conveyed by the conveyor, and when they reach the end of the conveyor, are sent one by one to the rail conveying means. The medals are conveyed while holding both ends in the diameter direction, exposing the front and back surfaces of the central part, and passing through the purification plate in this state, the exposed front and back surfaces contact the fiber portion of the purification plate and adhere to the front surface Dust and grease are wiped off and cleaned.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of a medal collecting conveyor according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing a main part of the medal collection conveyor of the first embodiment. A conveyor 11 is provided on a slot island (not shown) in which a number of slot machines, which are gaming machines, are arranged, and the conveyor 11 conveys medals overflowing from a plurality of slot machines to a collection box (not shown). I have.

In the vicinity of the end of the conveyor 11, a purifying means 13 is provided. The purifying means 13 includes a flexible partition plate 15
, A rotating brush 17 and a dust collecting device 19.

The flexible partition plate 15 can be formed of a flexible rubber plate, for example.
By dividing the upper medal transport space into small spaces 21 and hitting the medals 12 transported by the conveyor 11, the medals 12 have a function of leveling the overlapped medals 12 evenly.

The rotating brush 17 is arranged in the small space 21, and the rotating brush 17 is adapted to be rotated by a driving force taken out of, for example, a driving motor 25 of the conveyor 11 via a gear group (not shown). . A large number of brushes 17a are implanted on the rotating shaft of the rotating brush 17, and the tip of the brush 17a is brought into contact with the surface of the medal 12 placed on the conveyor 11 and moved by rotating. The brush 17a has a thickness and a material having such a rigidity that the medal 12 is not repelled when it comes into contact with the medal 12 in a rotating state.

Small space 21 partitioned by flexible partition plate 15
Is connected to a dust collector 19 having a built-in fan (not shown). The dust collecting device 19 opens the suction port 19 a into the small space 21 and filters the air sucked from the small space 21 into the filter 1.
The air is exhausted through 9b.

The medal collecting conveyor 2 constructed as described above.
7, the medals 12 to which dust and fats and oils adhered are
When the medals 12 are conveyed by the cleaning device 1 and reach the purifying means 13, the piles of the medals 12 are first leveled by the flexible partition plate 15 one by one. Medals 1 leveled one by one
By passing through the rotating brush 17, dust and oils and fats adhering to the surface are separated and cleaned. The separated dust and fats and oils together with the air in the small space 21 are collected by the dust collecting device 19.
And is collected by the filter 19b.

After the cleaned medals 12 are stored in a collection box (not shown), they are thrown into a slot machine directly or via a medal lending machine, so that the medals 12 which have overflowed again are removed. Purification is performed by the purifying means 13, and this is repeated.

Accordingly, dust and oils and fats adhering to the medals 12 are automatically removed each time the medals 12 are conveyed by the conveyor 11, and
It does not remain adhered for a long time, but is removed before firmly attaching to the medal 12. This gives medal 1
2 is always kept in a clean state, and there is no need to use a grinder to periodically remove the adhered dirt.

As described above, the above-mentioned medal collection conveyor 2
According to 7, the medal can always be kept in a clean state without using a large-scale and expensive polishing machine. Further, since the cleaning means 13 is provided on the conveyor 11, the cleaning can be performed in the medal transporting process, and the complicated transport work for cleaning the medals, which is required when a polishing machine is separately installed, can be eliminated. Further, according to the medal collecting conveyor 27 according to this embodiment, the purifying means 13
Is provided to directly purify the medals 12 on the conveyor 11, so that the medal collection conveyor 27 can be made compact.

Next, a medal collecting conveyor according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing a main part of the medal collection conveyor of the second embodiment. In this embodiment, a purifying unit 31 is provided between the end of the conveyor 11 and the collection box 29. The purifying means 31 includes a drop tube 33, a fixed brush 35, and a dust collector 19 similar to the above.
Consists of

The falling pipe 33 is a vertical pipe having upper and lower ends opened, and has an upper opening disposed below the end of the conveyor 11. Therefore, the medals 12 that reach the end of the conveyor 11 and fall from the end of the conveyor 11
3.

A fixed brush 35 is implanted in the drop tube 33, and the fixed brush 35 is long enough to contact the falling medals 12. That is, the medal 12 passes through the drop tube 33 while contacting the plurality of fixed brushes 35. When the fixed brush 35 comes into contact with the medals 12, the thickness and the material are set so as to be flexible enough to allow the medals 12 to pass therethrough.

The drop tube 33 is connected to a dust collecting device 19 having a built-in fan (not shown) as described above.
Opens the suction port 19a into the drop tube 33,
The air sucked from inside 3 is exhausted through a filter 19b.

A lower end of the inclined conveyor 37 is connected to a lower opening of the drop tube 33. Inclined conveyor 37
Receives the medal 12 dropped from the drop tube 33 at the lower end,
The medal 12 is transported from the lower end to the upper end, and is dropped from the end into the collection box 29.

The medal collecting conveyor 4 configured as described above.
In 1, the medals 12 to which dust and fats and oils adhered are
When the medal 12 is conveyed by the first conveyor 1 and reaches the terminal end of the conveyor 11, the medal 12 drops from the terminal end and the purifier 31
Through the falling pipe 33. As the medal 12 passes through the drop tube 33, dust and oils and fats adhering to the surface are separated and cleaned. The separated dust and oils and fats
The air is sucked by the dust collecting device 19 together with the air inside 3 and collected by the filter 19b.

After the cleaned medals 12 are dropped on the lower end of the inclined conveyor 37, they are conveyed to the upper end of the inclined conveyor 37 and dropped on the collection box 29. Less than,
As in the above-described embodiment, the medals 12 are stored in the collection box 29 and then inserted into the slot machine directly or through a medal lending machine.
What has overflown again is purified by the purifying means 31, and this is repeated.

Therefore, the dust and oils and fats adhered to the medal 12 do not remain adhered for a long period of time, but are removed before firmly adhering to the medal 12. Thereby, the medal 12 is always kept in a clean state, and there is no need to remove the fixed dirt using a polishing machine.

As described above, the above-mentioned medal collection conveyor 4
According to 1, the medal can always be kept in a clean state without using a large-scale and expensive polishing machine. Further, since the cleaning means 31 is provided on the conveyor 11, the cleaning can be performed in the medal transporting process, and the complicated transport work for cleaning the medals, which is required when a polishing machine is separately installed, can be eliminated. Furthermore, according to the medal collecting conveyor 41 according to this embodiment, since the fixed brush 35 is brought into contact with the medal 12 falling from the terminal end of the conveyor 11 to remove dust and grease, a driving force such as rotating the brush is required. Instead, the medal 12 can be cleaned using only the own weight of the medal 12.

In this embodiment, the medals 12 having passed through the drop tube 33 are once received by the inclined conveyor 37, and the medals 12 are collected through the inclined conveyor 37 into the collection box 2.
9, the medal collection conveyor 41 omits the inclined conveyor 37, arranges the collection box 29 below the drop tube 33, and directly collects the medals 12 from the drop tube 33. May be dropped.

Next, a medal collecting conveyor according to a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram showing a main part of the medal collecting conveyor of the third embodiment, and FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of the purification plate shown in FIG. In this embodiment, a purifying unit 43 is provided between the end of the conveyor 11 and the collection box 29. The purifying means 43 includes the rail transport means 4
5 and a purifying plate 47.

A hopper 4 is provided below the end of the conveyor 11.
The hopper 49 has a mechanism for pushing the medals 12 dropped from the conveyor 11 one by one to the rail transporting means 45.

The rail transporting means 45 is composed of a pair of rails 45a having a U-shaped cross section, holds both ends of the medal 12 in the diametrical direction from the front and back of the medal, and transports the medal 12 in a line on the same plane. It is supposed to. In this example, the rail transport means 45 is arranged in the vertical direction,
By pushing the medals 12 to the lower end of the rail transport means 45 by the above-mentioned hopper 49, the medals 12 are arranged in a line and pushed upward to be transported.

As shown in FIG. 4, the purifying plate 47 is formed integrally with a pair of substrates 47b via thin hinges 47a.
And a cloth-like sheet (canvas, canvas, etc.) 47c as a pair of fibrous bodies provided on the inner facing surface of the substrate 47b,
An elastic locking claw 47d is provided on a side edge of the one substrate 47b opposite to the hinge 47a and is releasably locked to a side edge of the other substrate 47b. The purifying plate 47 is attached to the pair of substrates 47b so as to sandwich the rail transporting means 45 by locking the elastic locking claws 47d, and the medals 12 transporting the pair of cloth-like sheets 47c provided on the substrate 47b. Contact the front and back.

At the upper end of the rail transport means 45, an inclined pipe 5
1 is connected to the upper end, and the inclined tube 51 collects the medals 12 discharged from the upper end of the rail transport means 45 in the collection box 2.
9 is to be dropped.

The medal collecting conveyor 5 constructed as described above
In 3, the medals 12 to which dust and grease adhered were moved to the conveyor 1.
When the medals 12 are transported by the hopper 1 and reach the end of the conveyor 11, the medals 12 fall from the end and
It is thrown into. The hopper 49 pushes the medals 12 to the rail transporting means 45 one by one. The medals 12 extruded by the rail transporting means 45 are transported with their diametrical ends held by a pair of rails 45a, with the front and rear surfaces of the central portion exposed.

In this state, when the medal 12 passes through the purifying plate 47, the exposed front and back surfaces become the cloth-like sheet 4 of the purifying plate 47.
7c, dust and fats and oils adhering to the surface are wiped off by the cloth-like sheet 47c and cleaned.

The cleaned medals 12 are dropped into the collection box 29 via the inclined pipe 51. Hereinafter, as in the above-described embodiment, the medals 12 stored in the collection box 29 are thrown into the slot machine directly or through a medal lending machine, so that the medals that have overflowed again are purified. The cleaning is performed by the means 43, and this is repeated.

Therefore, the dust and oils and fats adhering to the medal 12 do not remain adhered for a long period of time, but are removed before firmly adhering to the medal 12. Thereby, the medal 12 is always kept in a clean state, and there is no need to remove the fixed dirt using a polishing machine.

As described above, the above-described medal collection conveyor 5
According to 3, the medal can always be kept in a clean state without using a large-scale and expensive polishing machine. Further, since the cleaning means 43 is provided on the conveyor 11, the cleaning can be performed in the medal transporting process, and the complicated transport operation for cleaning the medals, which is required when a polishing machine is separately installed, can be eliminated. Furthermore, according to the medal collecting conveyor 53 according to this embodiment, the medals 12 are transported by the rail transporting means 45 in a front and back exposed state, and the purification plate 47 for purifying the medals 12 is detachably attached to the rail transporting means 45. The dirty purifying plate 47 can be easily replaced, and the purifying ability can always be kept constant.

[0042]

As described above in detail, according to the medal collecting conveyor of the first aspect of the present invention, medals are always kept in a clean state without using a large-scale and expensive polishing machine. Can be. In addition, since the purification can be performed in the medal transportation process, the complicated operation of transporting the collection box to the separately installed polishing machine can be eliminated.

According to the medal collection conveyor of claim 2,
The purifying means is composed of a flexible partition plate, a rotating brush, and a dust collecting device, and is configured to directly purify medals on the conveyor. Therefore, the medal collecting conveyor can be made compact.

According to the medal collection conveyor of claim 3,
The purifying means is composed of a drop tube, a fixed brush, and a dust collecting device. The fixed brush is brought into contact with a medal falling from the end of the conveyor to remove dust and grease, so that driving such as rotating the brush is performed. The medal can be cleaned using only the own weight of the medal without requiring any force.

According to the medal collection conveyor of claim 4,
The purifying means is composed of a rail transporting means and a purifying plate, and the purifying plate for purifying the medals is detachably attached to the rail transporting means, so that the dirty purifying plate can be easily replaced, and the purifying ability can be improved. It can always be kept constant.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a main part of a medal collection conveyor according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a main part of a medal collection conveyor according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a main part of a medal collection conveyor according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of the purification plate shown in FIG.

FIG. 5

[Explanation of symbols]

1 slot machine (game machine), 11 conveyor, 1
2 ... medal, 13, 31, 43 ... purifying means, 15 ... flexible partition plate, 17 ... rotating brush, 19 ... dust collecting device, 21 ...
Small space, 27, 41, 53 ... medal collection conveyor, 29
... collection box, 33 ... drop tube, 35 ... fixed brush, 4
5 ... rail conveyance means, 47 ... purification plate, 47a ... hinge,
47b: substrate, 47c: fibrous body

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A medal collecting conveyer for conveying medals overflowing from a plurality of gaming machines to a collecting box, wherein the medal surface is located close to the conveying path of the conveyor or between the end of the conveying path of the conveyor and the collecting box. A medal collecting conveyor provided with a purifying means for removing adhering dust and fat. 2. A flexible partition plate for partitioning a transport space on a conveyor into a small space, a rotary brush arranged in the small space, and driven to rotate to contact the medal being transported, 2. The medal collecting conveyor according to claim 1, further comprising: a dust collecting device that sucks air in the small space and collects the dust and oil separated from the medal. 3. A drop tube for passing the medals falling from the end of the conveyor path of the conveyor, a fixed brush provided in the drop tube and in contact with the medals falling, and air in the drop tube. 2. A medal collecting conveyor according to claim 1, further comprising a dust collecting device for collecting the dust and oil separated from the medal by sucking the medal. 4. The purifying means, which is provided between the end of the conveyor path of the conveyor and the collection box, holds only the diametrical ends of the medal from the front and back sides of the medal and arranges the medals in a line on the same plane. A rail transporting means for aligning and transporting, and a pair of boards detachably provided on the rail transporting means and connected via a hinge, so that the rail transporting means is sandwiched and attached to the inner facing surface of the board. 2. A medal collecting conveyor according to claim 1, further comprising: a purifying plate for contacting the pair of fibrous bodies provided on the front and back surfaces of the medal being conveyed.