JPH07112058A - Ball discharge device of game machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the ball discharge device of a game machine, which has no movable part and is free from vibration, a shock a noise. CONSTITUTION:This device is constituted of a driving coil 15 having a hollow 16 for giving force by a magnetic field to a ball 14 consisting of a magnetic material and discharging the ball 14, and a control circuit 17 which is connected to this driving coil 15 and controls an energizing amount and an energizing time in accordance with an operation of an angle sensor 18.

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 such as a pachinko machine.

[0002]

29 and 30 show two examples of a conventional ball launching device for a game machine.

In the conventional example 1 of FIG. 29, the geared motor 1
Is rotated and the hammer 3 is pushed up against the drive coil spring 4 by the release blades 2 connected to the shaft, the hammer 3 is released at an angle at which the pawl on the side of the hammer 3 comes off, and the force of the drive coil spring 4 is applied. It is a mechanism that hits the ball 5 to fire it. The drive coil spring 4 is connected to the handle 6, and the pulling force of the drive coil spring 4 is controlled by the set angle of the handle 6, so that the firing speed of the ball 5 can be varied. The disadvantage of this system is that the firing speed of the ball 5 varies greatly depending on the shape of the release blades 2, the deviation of the ball 5 hit by the hammer 3 from the core, or the degree of sag of the driving coil spring 4.
The number of shots per unit time depends on the number of rotations of the keyed motor 1.

Furthermore, since mechanical vibrations and shocks are transmitted through the handle 6, there is a drawback that the feeling is adversely affected.

Further, in the conventional example 2 of FIG. 30, a spring 10 is connected to one end of the solenoid coil 9 driven by the control circuit 8 controlled by the CP sensor 7, and the plan is always biased in one direction. A jar 11 is arranged, and a spring 12 attached to the other end of the plunger 11 fires a sphere 13 by a plunger 11 driven by a solenoid coil 9. However, the drawbacks such as the misalignment of the core of the ball 13 hit by the spring 12 and the high price of the plunger 11 remain.

[0006]

The problems of the above-mentioned conventional example are summarized as follows: (a) There are variations in the way the ball flies by hitting it with a hammer, and noise and vibration occur.

(B) Since the conventional method has a movable part, maintenance for correcting mechanical wear, cost increase due to increase of individual parts, and noise and vibration occur.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to eliminate the above-mentioned conventional drawbacks and provide a ball launching device for a game machine which has no moving parts and which performs stable operation without vibration or shock and noise.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a hollow drive coil for applying a force by a magnetic field to a sphere made of a magnetic material to launch the sphere, and an angle connected to the drive coil. It is composed of a control circuit for controlling the energization amount and the energization time according to the operation of the sensor.

[0010]

With the above construction, the ball can be fired without using a plunger or a hammer, and stable ball firing can be realized without vibration, shock or noise.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

First, the basic structure of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 1, 14 is a ball such as a pachinko ball made of a magnetic material, 15 is a drive coil having a hollow 18 for running the ball 14, and 17 is a control for controlling a current applied to the drive coil 15 and a current application time. Circuit, 1
An angle sensor 8 controls the control circuit 17.

When the operator rotates the angle sensor 18 by a predetermined angle with such a configuration, a signal corresponding to the rotation angle is applied to the control circuit 17, and the control circuit 17 energizes the drive coil 15 based on the signal. The amount and energization time are determined and the voltage is applied. A magnetic field is generated in the drive coil 15 by the application of this voltage, and a magnetic force acts on the sphere 14 located at one end of the hollow 16 of the drive coil 15 to move the sphere 14 toward the other end of the hollow 16 of the drive coil 15. When 14 reaches the middle of the hollow 16 of the drive coil 15, the drive coil 15 is de-energized, and the ball 1 is maintained at its momentum and is fired from the other end of the hollow 16 of the drive coil 15.

Next, the magnetic field distribution on the axis of the drive coil 15 when the drive coil 15 is energized is as shown in FIG.
When the length of the drive coil 15 is 2, the radius of the hollow 16 is r, the winding density of the drive coil 15 is n, and the current applied to the drive coil 15 is I, the magnetic field H is obtained as in (Equation 1). To be

[0015]

[Equation 1]

Further, when the sphere 14 made of a magnetic material is arranged at one end of the hollow 16 of the drive coil 15, the force F exerted on the sphere 14 by the magnetic field causes the magnetic moment of the sphere 14 to be mx.
Then, it becomes (Equation 2).

[0017]

[Equation 2]

In Equation 2, xe represents the magnetic susceptibility of the sphere 14, and v represents the volume of the sphere 14.

FIG. 3 shows the result in relation to the sphere 14.
When a direct current is applied to the drive coil 15, the sphere 14 is sucked from one end of the hollow 16 of the drive coil 15 and balanced at the center of the drive coil 15. That is, the sphere 14 entering the right direction from the area A in FIG.
Will pass through the center of the drive coil 15 and enter the region B, and will slow down and finally settle in the center of the drive coil 15.

When the half cycle of the movement of the sphere 14 is analyzed, the kinetic energy obtained by the sphere 14 and the work amount of the force F exerted on the sphere 14 by the magnetic field H are equal. The velocity is a function of position, and v = K · H. Here, v is the velocity (m / s) of the sphere 14, H is the magnetic field (AT / m), and K is a constant determined by the magnetic susceptibility and density of the sphere 14.

This relationship is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, since the sphere 14 reaches the maximum velocity at the center of the hollow 16 of the drive coil 15, if the current supply is cut off at this point, the sphere 14 maximizes the energy provided. It is absorbed by and is ejected from the hollow 16 at the maximum speed. The cutoff timing of the current is shown by the drive coil current waveform.

As an embodiment for setting the cutoff timing, as shown in FIG. 5, two coil bobbins 19 around which the drive coil 15 is wound are prepared, and the drive coils 15a and 15b divided into these two are prepared. Sphere sensor 2 between
0 is arranged as a drive coil 15, and the control circuit 17 connected to the drive coil 15 includes a ball detection sensor 20.
Is applied to operate the control circuit 17. The sphere detection sensor 20 is configured by an LED and a photocoupler, an optical fiber and a photocoupler, a detection coil, or the drive coil 15 is superposed with an alternating current to extract an inductance change of the drive coil 15. You may use a structure, a hall element, and a magnetoresistive element.

As shown in FIG. 6, the control circuit 17 has a driving transistor 22 having a collector connected to a driving coil 15 connected in parallel with a diode 21 and a base of the driving transistor 22 via a resistor 23. A terminal 24 connected to the angle sensor 18, an amplifying transistor 25 whose collector is also connected to the base of the driving transistor 22, and a terminal 26 for receiving the output of the ball detection sensor 20 at the base of the amplifying transistor 25. It is equipped with it.

With such a configuration, the driving transistor 2
When 2 is turned on by a signal from the angle sensor 18, electric power is supplied to the drive coil 15 from the drive power supply 27, and the drive coil 15 generates a magnetic field. The sphere 1 supplied to one end of the drive coil 15 by the magnetic field generated by the drive coil 15.
4 is sucked into the hollow 16 of the drive coil 15. When the sphere 14 passes through the central portion of the drive coil 15, an output is generated in the sphere detecting sensor 20, the output signal is applied to the terminal 26 of the control circuit 17, and the signal is amplified by the amplifying transistor 25 for driving. The drive coil 1 is applied to the base of the transistor 22 to turn off the driving transistor 22.
The supply of electric power from the driving power supply 27 to 5 is cut off.

At this time, the current Ic of the drive coil 15, the base current of the drive transistor 22 and the base current of the amplification transistor 25 are as shown in FIGS. 7 (a), 7 (b) and 7 (c).

In the above embodiment, the example in which a transistor is used as the control circuit 17 has been described, but it is obvious that a thyristor may be used.

The basic configuration of the present invention and the operation of the principle thereof have been described above. The energy strengthening and energy control configuration for practical use will be described below.

As shown in FIG. 6, the driving coil 15 and the diode 21 are connected in parallel. However, this is due to the back electromotive force of the driving coil 15 when the current supply to the driving coil 15 is cut off. It is for supplying a flywheel current to prevent voltage breakdown of the transistor. In this case, if a base current flows through the driving transistor 22 as shown in FIG. 8, the current i flowing through the driving coil 15 is delayed by td in interrupting the current. For this reason, since electromagnetic braking acts on the ball 14, it is necessary to advance the cutoff timing by an amount corresponding to the delay td.

That is, in order to advance the cutoff timing, the cutoff time may be shortened or the detection position of the ball 14 may be moved forward. In order to shorten the cutoff time, it is sufficient to correct the current application time of the current applied to the base of the driving transistor 22, that is, the pulse width to be shortened in advance by td as shown in FIG.

When the detection position of the sphere 14 is shifted forward, the position of the sphere detection sensor 20 is changed by Δx as shown in FIG.
It may be installed by offsetting by v = td in the direction opposite to the direction in which the sphere 14 travels.

Further, when the drive coil 15 is an air-core coil as shown in FIG. 11, the magnetic energy stored in the drive coil 15 is the same on the hollow 16 side of the drive coil 15 and on the outside thereof, and is hollow inside the drive coil 15. The energy efficiency due to the magnetic field generated in 16 is 1/2. In addition,
In FIG. 11, the inner energy W _i and the outer energy W _o
Are equal.

By the way, as shown in FIG. 12, when a magnetic material 28 having a high magnetic permeability is used to surround the outside of the drive coil 15, most of the magnetic flux outside the drive coil 15 is returned through the magnetic material 28, so that the outside energy is reduced. W _o becomes W _o = 1 / 2BH _o = 0, and the external energy W given to the drive coil 15
Most of _o is the internal energy W _i of the drive coil 15. That is, by shielding the outside of the drive coil 15, the energy applied to the sphere 14 can be approximately doubled, and when converted to the velocity of the sphere 14, approximately √2 times the velocity can be obtained.

A ball launching device using this drive coil 15 is as shown in FIG. 13. In this case, assuming that the launching speed of the ball 14 is the same, the number of turns is smaller than that of the drive coil 15 shown in FIG. It can be reduced to about half, which is advantageous in terms of cost.

Next, another embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. That is, the drive coils 15A, 15B, 15C
Are wound on a bobbin 19 with a collar, arranged coaxially and covered with a magnetic material 28 on the outside, and the respective drive coils 15A, 15
B and 15C are individually driven and controlled by the control circuit 17, and the ball 14
Is accelerated as it goes to the drive coils 15A, 15B and 15C, so that a large speed is given to the sphere 14.

The operation of the one using this multi-driving coil will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 15, i ₁
Is a current waveform applied to the drive coil 15A, i ₂ is a current waveform applied to the drive coil 15B, i ₃ is a current waveform applied to the drive coil 15C, and the three drive coils 15A, 15B and 15C are It is intended to increase the speed of the sphere 14 efficiently by sequentially energizing and shutting off the current.

Further, the multi-driving coils 15A-15
The control circuit 17 of C is as shown in FIG. 16, and the drive transistor 2 is provided in each of the drive coils 15A to 15C.
2A, 22B, 22C are connected, the three drive transistors 22A, 22B, 22C is turned on, to be turned off controlled by a shift register 29 consisting of S ₁ to S _3. The shift register 29 is configured to generate the signals shown in FIG. 17 in S _{1 to} S ₃ , and the driving transistor 22 is generated according to the signal of the shift register 29.
A to 22C are controlled and the drive coils 15A to 15C operate as described above.

As another example of the magnetic shield, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 8, a magnetic body 30 is formed so as to cover the outer periphery and both end surfaces of the drive coil 15, and an opening 31 is formed in a portion of the drive coil 15 corresponding to the hollow 16. The leakage magnetic flux is reduced and the magnetic energy stored inside is increased.

Next, a method of controlling the speed of the sphere 14 will be described. The speed of the sphere 14 in the hollow 16 of the drive coil 15 has already been described with reference to FIG. 4, but will be described in more detail as shown in FIG. That is, FIG. 19 shows a function of the drive coil current and the position (or time) on the axis.
By controlling like A and 30A, the speed can be controlled from v ₁ to v ₄
Can be changed up to.

As an embodiment of the pulse width control, a mono-multivibrator 32 is used as shown in FIG. 20, a trigger pulse is applied to the mono-multivibrator 32, and the operation amount of an angle detecting potentiometer as the angle sensor 18 is used. The pulse width applied to the drive transistor 22 of the drive coil 15 can be controlled.

As shown in FIG. 21, the AND circuit 35 outputs the output V ₂ of the vice table 33 to which the trigger pulse V ₁ is applied and the output V ₃ of the VFO 34 connected to the angle detecting potentiometer of the angle sensor 18. The output V ₄ is synthesized and applied to the bistable 36, and the output V ₅ of the bistable 36 controls the driving transistor 22.

Further, as shown in FIG. 22, a bistable monomultivibrator 3 to which a trigger pulse is applied is shown.
7 is connected to the counter 38, the A / D circuit 39 connected to the angle detecting potentiometer of the angle sensor 18 is connected to the counter 38, and a clock pulse is applied to the counter 38. The output of the counter 38 drives the driving transistor. It is also possible to control 22.

As for the current control of the drive coil 15, as shown in FIG. 23, an angle detection potentiometer as the angle sensor 18 is connected to the drive coil 15 via the stabilizing power source 40, and a current is applied to the drive coil 15. The cutoff may be performed by the driving transistor 22.

Further, as shown in FIG. 24, a constant voltage power source 41
It is also possible to connect a capacitor 42 between the drive coil 15 and the drive coil 15 and discharge the electric charge charged in the capacitor 42 for each shot so that the constant voltage power supply 41 can have a small capacity.

Next, still another embodiment will be described. Figure 25
Drive coils 15A, 15B and 15C are coaxially arranged by using a split bobbin 19 as shown in FIG.
Here, the drive coils 15A and 15B are acceleration coils, and the drive coil 15C is a coil for correcting the speed of the sphere 14. A sensor arranged between the drive coils 15A and 15B, here a photo-cableler is taken as an example, 43 is a transmitting side sensor, and 44 is a receiving side sensor. For example, the transmission side sensor 43 is an LED, and the reception side sensor 44 is a photodiode or the like.

As shown in FIG. 26, the sensor output becomes a pulse depending on the radius r of the sphere 14 and the sphere velocity v as shown in FIG. 26. Since the radius r is known, v is easier than t ₂ -t _1. Can be calculated.

The ball speed has variations due to various factors as shown in the speed curves C ₁ , C ₂ and C ₃ of FIG. 27. As shown in FIG. 27, the driving coil 15C accelerates and decelerates the ball speed to a predetermined speed. To automatically correct.

FIG. 28 shows a specific example thereof. In the figure, since the sensor input provides speed information with a pulse width, the drive coil 15C is shown with a conversion circuit 45 for converting the signal into a signal according to the control content.

[0048]

As described above, according to the present invention, since there is no movable part in a normal ball launching device, there is no vibration, impact or noise, and there is no mechanical abrasion, and therefore maintenance free. Furthermore, since there is basically no problem of hitting with the core of the ball off due to a shake of the hammer or the like, stable ball flight can always be realized. The number of shots per unit time can be set accurately by using a crystal or ceramic oscillator for clock oscillation in an electronic circuit. In addition, low cost can be expected because the components are simple.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing an embodiment of a ball launching device for a game machine according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a magnetic field distribution of the drive coil and a force acting on a sphere.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the position of the sphere and the force received.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the speed of the sphere.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing a specific configuration of the drive coil.

FIG. 6 is a circuit diagram showing the control circuit.

FIG. 7 is a waveform diagram of a current applied to the control circuit and the drive coil.

FIG. 8 is a waveform diagram showing a flywheel current of the drive coil.

FIG. 9 is a waveform diagram showing correction of the flywheel current.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view showing the configuration of a drive coil for correcting flywheel current.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing a magnetic flux of the drive coil.

FIG. 12 is a sectional view showing another example of the drive coil.

FIG. 13 is a conceptual diagram of a ball launching device of a game machine using another drive coil.

FIG. 14 is a sectional view showing an example of another drive coil.

15 is an explanatory diagram showing the operation of the drive coil of FIG.

FIG. 16 is a circuit diagram of the control circuit.

FIG. 17 is a current waveform diagram

FIG. 18 is a sectional view of a drive coil showing still another example.

FIG. 19 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between the current applied to the drive coil and the speed of the sphere.

20A and 20B are circuit diagrams and voltage waveform diagrams of pulse width control examples of drive coils.

21A and 21B are circuit diagrams and voltage waveform diagrams showing pulse width control examples of other drive coils.

22 (a) and 22 (b) are circuit diagrams and voltage waveform diagrams showing still another pulse width control example of the drive coil.

FIG. 23 is a circuit diagram showing an example of controlling the current of a drive coil.

FIG. 24 is a circuit diagram showing an example of controlling the current of another drive coil.

FIG. 25 is a sectional view of a drive coil having a speed correction function.

26 is a waveform chart showing the output of the sensor shown in FIG.

FIG. 27 is an explanatory view showing a state of controlling the speed of a sphere using the drive coil of FIG. 25.

FIG. 28 is a circuit diagram showing a control circuit of the drive coil of FIG. 25.

FIG. 29 is a schematic view showing a conventional ball launching device for a game machine.

FIG. 30 is a schematic view showing a ball launching device of another conventional game machine.

[Explanation of symbols]

 14 Ball 15 Drive Coil 16 Hollow 17 Control Circuit 18 Angle Sensor 19 Bobbin 20 Ball Detection Sensor 21 Diode 22 Drive Transistor 23 Resistor 25 Amplifying Transistor 28 Magnetic Material 29 Shift Register 30 Magnetic Material 31 Opening 32 Mono Multivibrator 33, 36 Bistable 34 VFO 35 AND circuit 37 Bistable mono multivibrator 38 Counter 39 A / D circuit 40 Stabilized power supply 41 Constant voltage power supply 42 Capacitor 43, 44 Sensor

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A hollow drive coil for applying a force of a magnetic field to a sphere made of a magnetic material to launch the sphere, and a control connected to the drive coil for controlling an energization amount and an energization time according to an operation of an angle sensor. A ball launching device for a game machine consisting of a circuit. 2. A ball launching device for a game machine according to claim 1, wherein the control circuit controls the ball so that when the ball reaches the hollow portion of the drive coil, the drive coil is de-energized. 3. A game machine according to claim 2, wherein a ball detection sensor is provided at an intermediate portion of the drive coil, and the drive coil is de-energized through a control circuit by a detection signal of the ball detection sensor. Ball launcher. 4. The ball launching device for a game machine according to claim 2, further comprising means for correcting a flywheel current generated in the drive coil. 5. The ball launching device for a game machine according to claim 1, wherein the outer periphery of the drive coil is covered with a magnetic material. 6. A ball launching device for a game machine according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of drive coils are arranged coaxially and the energization is controlled sequentially as the ball passes. 7. A ball launching device for a game machine according to claim 1, wherein a control circuit has a function of controlling a launching speed of a ball traveling in the hollow of the drive coil. 8. The ball launching device for a game machine according to claim 6, wherein the drive coil on the ball launching side of the plurality of drive coils is a ball launching speed correction coil.