Pachinko machine

Abstract

To calmly deal with a game without interrupting the game by eliminating the need to immediately remove a magnetic ball even if the magnetic ball is detected in a game machine using non-magnetic balls.SOLUTION: The present invention relates to a game machine comprising: a shooting device 11 for shooting a game ball (p) to a game area 5 of a game board 3 on which prize winning holes are disposed; and a ball feed member 18 for supplying the game balls (p) one by one to the shooting device. A magnet 20 which attracts a magnetic ball px is provided in the ball feed member 18, and magnetic ball sort means is provided for separating and temporarily saving the magnetic ball px which is attracted by the magnet, without guiding it to the shooting device.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a gaming machine using pachinko balls as a game medium, such as a pachinko machine, an arrangement ball game machine, and a sparrow ball game machine. More specifically, the present invention relates to a gaming machine using non-magnetic pachinko balls as a game medium.

Background Art

[0002] Pachinko balls (hereinafter referred to as "game balls"), which have been widely used as a game medium for pachinko machines, are generally ferromagnetic and strongly attracted to magnets because they are steel balls (made of iron) plated with chromium. Therefore, there was a risk that an illegal player might use a magnet to guide the game ball into the winning hole through the glass. Therefore, it is assumed that such illegal acts can be prevented by using non-magnetic balls, such as stainless steel spheres, which do not have the property of being attracted to magnets. However, even if non-magnetic balls are used, since magnetic balls and non-magnetic balls cannot be distinguished visually, there is a risk that an illegal player might secretly mix in magnetic balls, or that magnetic balls might be accidentally mixed in during maintenance work.

[0003] On the other hand, for example, a gaming machine called an enclosed gaming machine shown in Patent Document 1 below encloses a certain number of game balls in one gaming machine, and when the player operates the handle, the game balls are launched from the launching device and flow down through the game area of the game board. A circulation path is formed in the gaming machine so that the game balls that have flowed into the winning hole in the game area and the game balls that have flowed out through the out-ball discharge port also return to the launching device. By storing the presence or absence of winning, the number of prize balls, the number of held balls, etc. electrically or magnetically, the player can play the game without touching the game balls at all, and advantages such as not requiring the trouble of exchanging prizes are expected for the player. However, even if non-magnetic balls are used in such a ball-enclosed gaming machine, as shown in Patent Document 1, there is a risk that magnetic balls may be mixed in with the non-magnetic balls. Therefore, in the invention shown in this Patent Document 1, it is possible to detect the mixed magnetic balls.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Document

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] By the way, in the invention disclosed in Patent Document 1, although it is possible to prevent a game using magnetic balls by detecting the magnetic balls, the detected magnetic balls are not removed. For this reason, when a magnetic ball is detected, labor is required to remove the magnetic ball, and if information on the detection of a magnetic ball for some reason is transmitted during the game, even if the information is incorrect, it is necessary to interrupt the game for inspection, which may cause great inconvenience to the casino staff and players.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] The present invention aims to provide a gaming machine capable of solving the above problems. Therefore, the present invention is a gaming machine including a launching device for launching a game ball into a game area of a game board provided with a winning opening, and a ball feeding member for supplying the game balls to the launching device one by one, characterized in that a magnet for adsorbing a magnetic ball is provided on the ball feeding member, and a magnetic ball sorting means is provided for separating the magnetic ball adsorbed by the magnet and temporarily retracting it without guiding it to the launching device.

[0007] Further, the present invention is a ball-encapsulated gaming machine in which a certain number of game balls are encapsulated in the gaming machine, and a launching device for launching the game balls into a game area of a game board provided with a winning opening is provided, and the game balls launched into the game area by the launching device are circulated back to the launching device through a circulation path, characterized in that a ball polishing device for operating a ball transfer member by an electric drive source such as a motor is provided in the circulation path, a magnet for adsorbing a magnetic ball is provided on the ball transfer member, and a magnetic ball sorting means is provided for separating the magnetic ball adsorbed by the magnet and temporarily retracting it without guiding it to the launching device.

Advantages of the Invention

[0008] According to the present invention, in a gaming machine using non-magnetic balls, even if a magnetic ball is detected, it does not have to be immediately removed, so it is possible to deal with it calmly without interrupting the game. Further, by providing the magnetic ball sorting means in an existing ball feeding member or ball polishing device, it is not necessary to separately provide an electric drive source specifically for magnetic ball sorting, so the required component cost for magnetic ball sorting is reduced.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0009]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Figure 7

Figure 8

Figure 9

Figure 10

Figure 11

[0010] [Embodiment 1] Next, an example of applying the present invention to a ball-encapsulating gaming machine will be described as Embodiment 1. FIG. 1 shows a ball-encapsulating gaming machine (pachinko gaming machine) according to the present invention in a state where a transparent plate holding frame (not shown) hinged to a bearing fitting 2 provided on the left edge of the gaming machine main body 1 is removed. The gaming board 3 provided in the gaming machine main body 1 has an arc-shaped launch rail 4 and an inner rail 5 fixed to the front surface. A gaming area 6 is formed inside the inner rail 5 with a plurality of winning holes, gaming pins, windmills, etc. arranged in an appropriate form, and an out ball discharge port 7 is provided at the lower end of the gaming area 6. Further, a launch device 11 composed of an electric drive source such as a motor or a solenoid is provided so that a striking hammer faces a ball launch section 10 located at the lower end of the launch rail 4. The launch device 11 operates when a player operates a handle 12 protruding near the lower right edge of the front surface of the gaming machine main body 1, and strikes a gaming ball to launch the gaming ball into the gaming area 6. The gaming balls launched into the gaming area 6 flow down through the gaming area 6 and flow into the winning holes or flow down to the out ball discharge port 7. Note that 8 is a keyhole provided on the left edge of the gaming machine main body 1 to keep the transparent plate holding frame (not shown) in a locked state, and 9 is an engaging piece.

[0011] Also, as shown in FIG. 3, a ball receiving gutter 13 is formed on the back surface of the gaming board 3, and the gaming balls that have flowed into the winning holes and the gaming balls discharged from the out ball discharge port 7 as described above flow down into the ball receiving gutter 13. When a gaming ball wins a prize in the winning hole, the gaming ball is detected by a ball detection sensor (not shown). In this ball-encapsulating gaming machine, no prize balls are actually paid out to the player upon winning. Instead, the number of prize balls that should originally be paid out to the player upon winning is counted, and the value is stored in an electric or magnetic memory. For this reason, this ball-encapsulating gaming machine is not provided with a prize ball payout device that a normal pachinko gaming machine has for paying out prize balls or a ball tray for receiving the prize balls. Then, both the game balls that flow down through the game area 6 and win in the winning hole and the game balls discharged from the out ball discharge port 7 are guided from the ball receiving trough 13 to the ball polishing device 15 through the circulation path 14a and cleaned. After that, the game balls further roll by their own weight through the circulation path 14b. Note that the configuration of the ball polishing device 15 will be described in detail in Embodiment 2 to be described later. In this way, in the ball-encapsulated gaming machine, the ball polishing device 15 is provided between the circulation paths 14a and 14b of the game balls in order to always keep the circulating game balls clean.

[0012] And a ball feeding device 16 for supplying game balls one by one to the ball launching section 10 in conjunction with the launching operation of the launching device 8 is provided at the lower end of the circulation path 14b, and the magnetic ball sorting means according to the present invention is constituted in the ball feeding device 16. Next, the magnetic ball sorting means constituted by the ball feeding device 16 will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 9. The ball feeding device 16 has a substantially disk-shaped ball feeding member 18 concentrically fixed to a vertically supported rotating shaft 17, and an arc-shaped notch 19 for holding balls is formed on the outer periphery of the ball feeding member 18. The rotating shaft 17 is interlocked with the operation of the launching device 8 so as to rotate the ball feeding member 18 once in the direction of the arrow each time the launching device 8 strikes and launches a game ball in the ball launching section 10. And by arranging the end portion of the circulation path 14b so as to face the periphery of the ball feeding member 18, the game balls p flowing down through the circulation path 14b flow into the arc-shaped notch 19. Note that a magnet 20 is provided on a part of the rotating shaft 17 so as to be located at the inner surface depth of the arc-shaped notch 19. Also, as shown in FIG. 3, a ball supply path 21 communicating with the ball launching section 10 is provided at the lower part in the rotating direction of the ball feeding member 18, a ball retreat chamber 22 is provided on the opposite side of the ball supply path 21 across the rotating shaft 17, and a collision piece 23 is fixed on the ball retreat chamber 22.

[0013] For this reason, as shown in FIG. 5, if the game ball p that flows down the circulation path 14b and is held in the arc-shaped notch 19 is a non-magnetic ball that is not attracted to the magnet 20, the ball feed member 18 rotates to drop into the ball supply path 21 as shown in FIG. 6 and FIG. 7, and is sent to the ball launching unit 10 and launched by the launching device 8. On the other hand, if the game ball p that flows down the circulation path 14b and is held in the arc-shaped notch 19 is a magnetic ball that is attracted to the magnet 20, the magnetic ball px is carried to above the ball evacuation chamber 22 as shown in FIG. 8 without dropping into the ball supply path 21 as the ball feed member 18 rotates, and collides with the collision piece 23 and falls into the ball evacuation chamber 22. For this reason, there is no risk that the magnetic ball px is sent to the ball launching unit 10 and launched. In this way, the magnetic ball sorting means separates the magnetic balls px from the circulation path of the game balls, temporarily evacuates them, and stores the magnetic balls px in the ball evacuating chamber 22. The ball evacuating chamber 22 has a capacity capable of storing a plurality of game balls. It is desirable to provide an optical sensor or a magnetic sensor (not shown) in the ball evacuating chamber 22 to detect the presence or absence and number of magnetic balls px, and to provide a notification means operated by the sensor. By providing the ball evacuating chamber 22 in this way, it is not necessary to immediately remove the magnetic balls px even if they are detected, and non-magnetic balls are sent to the launching unit 10 as usual, so that the game continues without interruption. Therefore, even if magnetic balls px are detected, if a preset number is detected, the game machine is monitored, and if further detection is detected, an error notification is issued, so that the store staff can calmly deal with the situation, and the cause of the magnetic balls px being mixed in can be verified and appropriate measures can always be taken. The rotary shaft 17 shown in this embodiment may be rotated 360 degrees using a motor as an electric drive source, or may be rotated back and forth a predetermined angle using a solenoid as a drive source.

[0014] [Embodiment 2] On the other hand, Embodiment 2 of the present invention shown in FIGS. 10 and 11 constitutes magnetic ball sorting means according to the present invention in the ball mill 15 also shown in Embodiment 1. The ball mill 15 shown in this Embodiment 2 is provided with bearings 31 and 32 at positions near the circulation path 14a and positions near the circulation path 14b, respectively, to rotatably support the rotating shaft 30. A gear 34 is fixed to the rotating output shaft of the motor 33, and a gear 35 meshing with the gear 34 is fixed to the rotating shaft 30. The rotating shaft 30 can be rotated in the direction of the arrow by driving the motor 33. A screw 36 having a spiral feed groove formed on its outer periphery through which game balls can flow in one by one is integrally provided on the rotating shaft 30. One end of the screw 36 faces the circulation path 14a, and the other end of the screw 36 faces the circulation path 14b, thereby constituting ball moving means for moving the game balls from the circulation path 14a to the circulation path 14b. On one side of the screw 36, a polishing brush 37 is detachably provided, and the bristles 38 of the polishing brush 37 face the feed groove of the screw 36. Therefore, when the screw 36 rotates by driving the motor 33, the game balls flowing in from the circulation path 14a are forcibly moved through the feed groove of the screw 36 toward the circulation path 14b. At this time, since the bristles 38 of the polishing brush 37 contact the outer peripheral surface of the game ball, the game ball is polished and the oil stains and the like adhering to the outer peripheral surface of the game ball are cleaned.

[0015] And in the present invention, a magnet 40 is fixedly provided on a part of the outer periphery of the rotating shaft 30 on the downstream side of the screw 36, so that among the game balls sent by the screw 36 as shown in Fig. 11(a), the magnetic balls px are adsorbed by the magnet 40. Further, a ball retreat chamber 41 is arranged side by side adjacent to the screw 36, and one side edge 42 with an open upper surface of the ball retreat chamber 41 is made adjacent to the magnet 40. For this reason, as the rotating shaft 30 rotates in the direction of the arrow, the magnetic balls px adsorbed by the magnet 40 move onto the ball retreat chamber 41, and by further rotating, the magnetic balls px collide with the one side edge 42 as a collision piece and flow into the ball retreat chamber 41 as shown in Fig. 11(b). On the other hand, the non-magnetic balls flow into the circulation path 14b without being adsorbed by the magnet 40, are fed to the ball launch section 10 through the ball feeding device 16, and are launched as usual by the launch device 8. Note that the ball retreat chamber 41 has a volume capable of storing a plurality of game balls in the same manner as the ball retreat chamber 22, and a light sensor or a magnetic sensor etc. (not shown) capable of detecting the magnetic balls px stored in the ball retreat chamber 41, and notification means operated by the sensor are provided. Also in this Embodiment 2, by providing the ball retreat chamber 41, even if the magnetic balls px are detected, it is not necessary to immediately remove them. Since the non-magnetic balls circulate as usual, the game is not interrupted. When the preset number is detected, store clerks etc. can calmly handle it, such as monitoring the gaming machine and further giving an error notification when detected.

[0016] In addition, in this Embodiment 2, although it is not explained whether to provide magnetic ball sorting means in the ball feeding device 16, if the ball polishing device 15 is provided with the above-mentioned magnetic ball sorting means, there is no need to provide it in the ball feeding device 16. Also, as shown in the above Embodiment 1, when the ball feeding device 16 is provided with magnetic ball sorting means, there is no need to provide magnetic ball sorting means in the ball polishing device 15. Further, a mechanism having both functions of the ball mill device and the ball feeder device may be provided, and a magnetic ball sorting means may be provided in such a mechanism. For example, if a ball launching portion is arranged at the moving end of a screw formed with a feed groove as shown in Embodiment 2, among the game balls that have finished polishing one by one, the magnetic balls are separated into the ball retreat chamber, and the non-magnetic balls can be supplied to the ball launching portion as they are. And, as shown in these embodiments, by providing the magnetic ball sorting means so as to be attached to an existing device such as the ball feeder device 16 or the ball mill device 15, it is not necessary to separately provide electric driving means such as a motor or a solenoid for magnetic ball sorting, so the required parts cost is reduced. The ball feeder device for supplying the game balls one by one to the ball launching portion is not a special device provided only in the ball-encapsulating type gaming machine as shown in Embodiment 1 above, but is provided in a conventional general pachinko gaming machine in which game balls are paid out to the player as prize balls. Therefore, providing the magnetic ball sorting means as shown in Embodiment 1 in the ball feeder device can be directly applied not only to the ball-encapsulating type gaming machine but also to general gaming machines. On the other hand, gaming machines that need to be equipped with a ball mill device inside the machine are limited to ball-encapsulating type gaming machines that circulate game balls inside the machine. Therefore, providing the magnetic ball sorting means in the ball mill device is a configuration peculiar to the ball-encapsulating type gaming machine. When applying the present invention to a ball-encapsulating type gaming machine that does not have a ball mill device inside the machine, it is natural to provide the magnetic ball sorting means in the ball feeder device as shown in Embodiment 1. In addition, in Embodiment 1 above, the game balls are fed by a substantially disk-shaped ball feeding member 18 having an arc-shaped notch for holding the balls, and in Embodiment 2, the game balls are fed by a screw 3 having a spiral feed groove. However, the feeding means of the game balls can be configured without being limited to these embodiments.

Explanation of reference numerals

[0017] 1... gaming machine main body, 2... bearing fitting, 3... game board, 4... launch rail, 5... inner rail, 6... game area, 7... out ball discharge port, 8... keyhole, 9... engaging piece, 10... ball launch section, 11... launch device, 12... handle, 13... ball receiving trough, 14a, 14b... circulation path, 15... ball polishing device, 16... ball feeding device, 17... rotating shaft, 18... ball feeding member, 19... arc-shaped notch, 20... magnet, 21... ball supply path, 22... ball retreat chamber, 23... collision piece, 30... rotating shaft, 31, 32... bearings, 33... motor, 34, 35... gears, 36... screw, 37... polishing brush, 38... brush tip, 40... magnet, 41... ball retreat chamber, 42... one side edge, p... game ball, px... magnetic ball

Claims

1. A gaming machine comprising a launching device for launching a game ball into a game area of a game board provided with a winning opening, and a ball feeding device for feeding the game balls to the launching device one by one, wherein the ball feeding device is provided with a substantially disk-shaped ball feeding member concentrically on a vertically supported rotating shaft, an arc-shaped notch for holding a ball is formed on the outer periphery of the ball feeding member, and a magnet for adsorbing a magnetic ball is provided in the arc-shaped notch. Non-magnetic balls that are not adsorbed by the magnet fall off from the arc-shaped notch as the ball feeding member rotates around the rotating shaft and are fed to the launching device one by one as usual. On the other hand, the magnetic balls adsorbed by the magnet do not get fed to the launching device, and as the ball feeding member further rotates around the rotating shaft and collides with a collision piece, they are detached from the arc-shaped notch and dropped into a ball evacuation chamber provided below the collision piece. A magnetic ball sorting means is provided.

2. A game machine with enclosed balls, which encloses a certain number of game balls in the machine and is provided with a launching device for launching the game balls into a game area of a game board provided with a winning opening. The game balls launched into the game area by the launching device are circulated back to the launching device through a circulation path. In the circulation path, bearings are provided at upper and lower positions respectively to vertically support a rotating shaft, and a screw is provided concentrically on the rotating shaft, which forms a spiral feed groove on the outer periphery through which the game balls can flow in one by one. A ball polishing device is constituted in the circulation path by providing a polishing brush on one side of the screw. In the ball polishing device, a magnet is fixed on the outer periphery below the screw, a ball evacuation chamber is arranged adjacent to the screw, one side edge of the ball evacuation chamber is adjacent to the magnet, and the screw is rotated by a motor which is an electric drive source, so that the game balls in the circulation path are forcibly moved through the feed groove of the screw. Among the game balls, non-magnetic balls that are not adsorbed by the magnet are fed to the launching device as usual, while magnetic balls are adsorbed by the magnet and as the screw rotates, they collide with one side edge of the ball evacuation chamber and are dropped into the ball evacuation chamber. A magnetic ball sorting means is provided.

Images