JP2006068311A - Spherical body passage sensor - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a spherical body passage sensor which enables the detection of the passage of the spherical bodies and the prevention of the misdetection suspiciously attributed to the fraudulence with a simple and inexpensive structure. <P>SOLUTION: When the spherical bodies B drop into a spherical body passage hole 3 of the spherical body passage sensor 1, a mobile piece 5 protruding from its inner peripheral surface 3a is pressed with the spherical bodies B to make a magnet piece 6 at the rear end of the mobile piece 5 temporarily approach a Hall IC 7. As a result, the detection level of the Hall IC 7 exceeds the given value and the spherical body passage signal showing the passage of the spherical bodies is outputted but at the same time, if the detection level of the Hall IC 8 exceeds the given value, the fraudulent attempt using a magnet other than the magnet piece 6 is determined to be done and the detection of the spherical bodies by the Hall IC 7 is invalidated with a fraudulence prevention circuit thereby stopping the spherical body passage signal from being outputted. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a sphere passage sensor for detecting passage of a sphere such as a pachinko ball, and more particularly to a sphere passage sensor using a magnetic detection element such as a Hall element.

  In a game machine such as a pachinko machine, a ball passing sensor is arranged in the prize pocket in order to detect that a pachinko ball has entered a specific prize pocket. As this type of spherical passage sensor, as disclosed in Patent Document 1 below, a proximity sensor using electromagnetic induction is used. Since the game ball is made of metal, when the game ball passes in the vicinity of the oscillation coil, an eddy current is generated by the electromagnetic induction action, and the output amplitude of the oscillation circuit varies. Based on this, the passing of the game ball is detected.

Here, the output of the oscillation coil varies even when, for example, a magnet or the like is brought closer. Therefore, if a strong magnet is brought close to the outside of the game board of the game table, the output of the oscillation coil fluctuates even though the game ball has not passed, and a false detection that the game ball has passed is performed. End up. In order to prevent such erroneous detection due to fraud, in Patent Document 1, an oscillation coil for detecting external magnetic flux is separately arranged, and when external magnetic flux is detected by the oscillation coil, fraud Judging that there is.
JP-A-8-80365

  However, the detection mechanism using an oscillation coil has a complicated circuit configuration for output adjustment and signal processing of the oscillation circuit, and in particular, a device equipped with a plurality of oscillation circuits to prevent fraud increases the manufacturing price. There is a tendency.

  An object of the present invention is to propose a sphere passage sensor capable of detecting passage of a sphere with a simple and inexpensive configuration.

  Another object of the present invention is to propose a sphere passage sensor that can detect passage of a sphere and prevent erroneous detection due to fraudulent actions with a simple and inexpensive configuration.

  In order to solve the above problems, the sphere passage sensor of the present invention is temporarily moved by being pushed by a sphere passage hole through which a sphere to be detected such as a pachinko ball can pass and a sphere passing through the sphere passage hole. A movable piece that moves to a detection position in conjunction with the movable piece, and a magnetic detection signal that outputs a magnetic detection signal that is equal to or higher than a predetermined level that indicates passage through a sphere when the magnet reaches the detection position. 1 magnetic detection element.

  In the sphere passage sensor having this configuration, each time the sphere passes through the sphere passage hole, the movable piece temporarily moves, and accordingly, the magnet piece also temporarily moves to the detection position. As a result, the magnet piece is detected by the first magnetic sensor. That is, the output level of the first magnetic sensor that detects the magnetic flux generated from the magnet piece rises to a value that is equal to or higher than a predetermined level that represents the passage of a sphere. If the magnetizing strength of the magnet piece is managed with high accuracy, the passage of the sphere can be reliably detected only by performing simple signal processing on the output of the first magnetic detection element.

  In the present invention, the movable piece protrudes inward in the half shape direction by a predetermined amount from the inner peripheral surface of the sphere passage hole, and is pushed outward in the radial direction by a predetermined amount by the sphere passing through the sphere passage hole. You can make it. In this case, if the amount of protrusion of the movable piece is set to an appropriate value, the movable piece is temporarily pushed only when the central portion (maximum outer diameter portion) of the sphere passes. Therefore, even when the spheres pass through the sphere passage hole in a continuous state, the movement of the movable piece is repeated every time the sphere passes, and the number of spheres passing through can be detected accurately.

  Next, in order to bring a strong magnet from the outside close to the sphere passage sensor and prevent an illegal act that induces false detection by the first magnetic detection element, at least one second magnetic detection element and the second magnetic detection element are used. It is desirable to have a fraud prevention circuit that invalidates a detection signal indicating passage of a sphere by the first magnetic detection element when the magnetic detection output of the detection element is equal to or higher than a predetermined level.

  When the first magnetic detection element generates an output of a level indicating the passage of a sphere, and the second magnetic detection element outputs an output of a predetermined level or more, the detection output is based on a magnetic force other than the magnet piece. I understand. That is, it can be seen that this is a false detection due to fraud.

  Here, Hall elements can be used as the first magnetic detection element and the second magnetic detection element.

  As described above, in the sphere passage sensor of the present invention, the passage of the sphere is detected by temporarily moving the magnet piece to the detection position by the first magnetic detection element in conjunction with the passage of the sphere. Managing the magnetic characteristics of the magnet pieces with high accuracy is easier than managing the electromagnetic induction characteristics of a sphere such as a game ball. Therefore, compared with the case where the oscillation circuit is used, an output of a predetermined level or more can be reliably obtained from the first magnetic detection element when passing through the sphere, and the passage through the sphere can be reliably detected with a simple and inexpensive configuration.

  Further, by appropriately setting the amount of protrusion of the movable piece into the sphere passage hole, it is possible to reliably detect the sphere passing through in a continuous state.

  Further, by arranging one or a plurality of magnetic detection elements in addition to the magnetic detection element for detecting passage of a sphere, erroneous detection due to fraud can be prevented easily and inexpensively.

  Hereinafter, an example of a spherical passage sensor to which the present invention is applied will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing a spherical body passage sensor according to the present embodiment, FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing its internal configuration, and FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a portion cut along line III-III in FIG. . Describing with reference to these drawings, the spherical body passage sensor 1 includes a flat rectangular parallelepiped case 2, and a circular spherical body penetrating in the thickness direction is provided at a tip side portion of the case 2. A hole 3 is formed. A connector 4 is attached to the rear end surface 2a of the case 2, through which power is supplied from the outside, and a detection signal is output to the outside.

  The sphere passage hole 3 is a circular hole having an inner diameter slightly larger than the diameter of the sphere B to be detected. An opening 3b is formed in the circular inner peripheral surface 3a of the spherical body passage hole 3, from which the tip of the movable piece 5 protrudes. The movable piece 5 is disposed at an intermediate position in the direction of the central axis 3 </ b> A of the spherical body passage hole 3. Further, it is arranged on a plane orthogonal to the central axis 3 </ b> A so as to be movable in the radial direction of the spherical body passage hole 3.

  In this example, the tapered tip portion 5a is pushed by the projecting position 5A projecting inward from the circular inner peripheral surface 3a by a predetermined amount and the sphere B passing through the sphere passage hole 3, and the radial direction by a predetermined amount. It is possible to move between the retracted position indicated by the imaginary line 5B retracted outward. The amount of protrusion of the tip 5a of the movable piece 5 into the sphere passage hole is such that when the sphere B falls through the sphere passage hole 3, the movable piece 5 only passes while the central portion (maximum outer diameter portion) of the sphere B passes. Is set to hit. Further, the movable piece 5 is urged so as to be always located at the protruding position by an urging member (not shown) such as a spring.

  A magnet piece 6 is attached to the rear end 5 b of the movable piece 5 and can move together with the movable piece 5. The magnet piece 6 may be arranged at a position away from the movable piece 5 by a predetermined distance, and may be arranged to move backward by a predetermined amount by the movable piece 5 moving toward the retreat position 5B. Good. When the movable piece 5 moves to the retreat position 5B, the magnet piece 6 moves to the detection position 6B indicated by an imaginary line in FIG. 3 by the movable piece.

  Behind the magnet piece 6 is arranged a Hall IC 7 (first magnetic detection element) for detecting passage of a sphere. The Hall IC 7 is mounted on a control board 8 disposed inside the case 2. The magnetic detection output of the Hall IC 7 is set to be equal to or higher than a predetermined level when the magnet piece 6 moves to the detection position 6B. Therefore, when the movable piece 5 is pushed into the retracted position 5B by the sphere B passing through the sphere passage hole 3, the magnet piece 6 moves and a magnetic detection signal of a predetermined level or higher indicating the passage of the sphere is output from the Hall IC 7. The

  The output signal of the Hall IC is waveform-shaped through the control circuit 9 built in the control board 8, and is output to the outside through the connector 4 as a spherical passage signal in the form of a pulse signal having a constant width, for example. .

  A fraud prevention Hall IC 10 is mounted on the control board 8 at a side position of the Hall IC 7. The arrangement position or detection sensitivity of the Hall IC 10 is set so that an output exceeding a predetermined level does not occur even when the magnet piece 6 is closest.

  FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram showing a control system of the sphere passage sensor 1. The control system includes a Hall IC 7 that detects the magnet piece 6 that moves in conjunction with the movable piece 5 and a Hall IC for fraud prevention, and a signal processing circuit 11 that processes the detection signals 7S and 8S of these Hall ICs 7 and 8. And a fraud prevention circuit 12. In the signal processing circuit 11, when magnetic detection signals 7S and 8S having a predetermined level or higher are input, waveform shaping is performed on each of the signals, and the signals are output as, for example, constant width pulse signals 70S and 80S, respectively. .

  In the fraud prevention circuit 12, if the pulse signal 80S is inputted when the pulse signal 70S is inputted, the pulse signal 70S is invalidated (that is, the detection of the passage of the sphere by the Hall IC 7 is invalidated as false detection due to fraud). ), The pulse signal 70S is not output as a sphere detection signal. When the pulse signal 80S is not input, the pulse signal 70S is output as the sphere passing signal 12S.

  The sphere passage sensor 1 of this example configured in this way is arranged so that the central axis 3A of the sphere passage hole 3 is vertical on the back side of the game board in a game table such as a pachinko machine, for example. A sphere B that naturally falls through the hole 3 is detected. In this case, the sphere passage signal output from the sphere passage sensor 1 is transmitted via the connector 4 to a control unit built in the upper game machine or a pachinko ball as a game medium for the game machine. In order to perform the lending operation of the spheres, it is supplied to the control unit of the interpolated machine which is arranged adjacently. The upper control unit discriminates a winning or the like based on the sphere detection signal, and performs a game medium payout operation.

  In the sphere passage sensor 1 of this example, when the sphere B1 falls through the sphere passage hole 3, it hits the tip portion 5a of the movable piece 5 located in the movement locus and is temporarily pushed laterally. As a result, the magnet piece 6 temporarily moves to the detection position 6B, and the level of the magnetic detection signal 7S of the Hall IC 7 becomes equal to or higher than a predetermined level. Based on this, the signal processing circuit 11 generates a pulse signal 70S having a predetermined width. Then, it is output as a sphere passage signal 12S via the fraud prevention circuit 12.

  When an illegal act of bringing a strong magnet close to the sphere passing sensor 1 from the front surface of the game table or the like is performed, the Hall IC 7 detects a magnetic detection signal of a predetermined level or more even though the magnet piece 6 is not approaching. 7S is generated, and the signal processing circuit 11 generates and outputs a pulse signal 70S representing the passage of the sphere based on this. In this case, however, the magnetic force is detected also by the fraud preventing Hall IC 8, and the output level of the magnetic detection signal 8S rises to a predetermined level or higher. Therefore, the signal processing circuit 11 generates the invalid signal 80S from the signal 8S. Generate. When the invalid signal 80S is input, the fraud prevention circuit 12 invalidates the pulse signal 70S representing the passage of the sphere. As a result, it is possible to prevent the Hall IC 7 from erroneously detecting due to fraud and determining that a prize has been won even though no prize has been won.

  Next, in the sphere passage sensor 1 of this example, the tip portion 5a of the movable piece 5 protrudes into the sphere passage hole 3 by a predetermined amount. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, even when a plurality of spheres B fall in a continuous state, only when the central portion (maximum outer diameter portion) of each sphere B passes the position of the movable piece 5, The movable piece 5 is pushed and moves. Therefore, even when the spheres pass in a continuous state, the movable piece 5 moves each time the sphere passes, so that the passage of the sphere can be accurately detected.

(Other embodiments)
In this example, the Hall element is used as the magnetic detection element, but instead, a magnetic detection element such as a magnetoresistive element can be used. It is also possible to arrange a plurality of magnetic detection elements for preventing fraud (Hall IC 8 in the above example).

  Furthermore, it goes without saying that the sphere passage sensor of the present invention can be applied to detect a sphere in a field other than a game machine such as a pachinko machine.

It is an external appearance perspective view which shows the spherical body passage sensor which concerns on this Embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the internal structure of the spherical body passage sensor of FIG. It is a fragmentary longitudinal cross-section which shows the part cut | disconnected by the III-III line of FIG. It is a schematic block diagram which shows the control system of the spherical body passage sensor of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Sphere passage sensor 2 Case 3 Sphere passage hole 3a Inner peripheral surface 3A Center axis 5 Movable piece 6 Magnet piece 7 Hall IC for detecting sphere passage
10 Hall IC for fraud prevention
11 Signal Processing Circuit 12 Fraud Prevention Circuit

Claims (4)

A sphere passage hole through which a detection target sphere such as a pachinko ball can pass,
A movable piece that is pushed and temporarily moved by a sphere passing through the sphere passage hole;
A magnet piece that temporarily moves to a detection position in conjunction with the movable piece;
A sphere passage sensor having a first magnetic detection element that outputs a magnetic detection signal of a predetermined level or more indicating passage of a sphere when the magnet reaches the detection position. In claim 1,
The movable piece protrudes inward in the semicircular direction by a predetermined amount from the inner peripheral surface of the sphere passage hole, and is pushed outward in the radial direction by a predetermined amount by the sphere passing through the sphere passage hole. A spherical passing sensor. In claim 1 or 2,
At least one second magnetic sensing element;
And a fraud prevention circuit that invalidates the magnetic detection signal representing the passage of a sphere output from the first magnetic detection element when a magnetic detection signal of a predetermined level or more is output from the second magnetic detection element. A spherical passage sensor characterized by that. In claim 3,
The sphere passage sensor, wherein the first magnetic detection element and the second magnetic detection element are Hall elements.

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