JPH1085424A - Ball exchange device between pachinko island stands - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a ball exchange device between pachinko island stands capable of uniformizing the storage amount of the ball of the pachinko island stand at all times and quickly coping with the decrease/increase of the storage amount. SOLUTION: When it is discriminated that the ball storage amount of a certain pachinko island stand C reaches a lower limit by a sensor S1, by performing control so as to replenish the balls from the adjacent pachinko island stands B and D through this ball exchange device and replenish the balls from the pachinko island stands A and E on the outer side through the ball exchange device to the adjacent pachinko island stands B and D as well further, since the balls are also replenished from the pachinko island stands A and E on the outer side to the pachinko island stands B and D adjacent to the pachinko island stand C whose ball storage amount reaches the lower limit, the increase/decrease width to the ball storage amount of the respective pachinko island stands is reduced, an uniform storage amount is attained and the decrease/increase of the ball storage amount are quickly coped with.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a ball exchange device for pachinko islands that exchanges balls according to the amount of balls stored on a plurality of pachinko islands.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, between a plurality of pachinko islands installed in a game arcade, balls are exchanged by a ball exchange device in accordance with the amount of balls stored in the pachinko island. This ball exchange was to take place only between adjacent pachinko islands.

[0003]

However, in the case where ball exchange is performed only between adjacent pachinko islands, for example, when the ball storage amount of a certain pachinko island reaches the lower limit, the adjacent pachinko islands are returned. Will be banned from returning to the ball return device and the ball will be replenished from the adjacent pachinko island. The period during which the lower limit must be reached to prohibit the return to the ball return device on the further adjacent Pachinko Island stand, and the supply must also be received from the further adjacent Pachinko Island stand, and the return to the ball return device as a whole is prohibited. However, there is a drawback that the length of the image becomes longer.

[0004] Conversely, when the storage amount of balls on a certain pachinko island reaches the upper limit, return of the balls to the ball return device of the pachinko island is prohibited and the balls are moved only to the adjacent pachinko island. However, if a large amount of balls are already stored on the adjacent pachinko island, the adjacent pachinko island also immediately reaches the upper limit and the return of the pachinko island to the ball return device is also prohibited. Furthermore, the ball must be moved to the adjacent pachinko island stand, and there is a disadvantage that the period in which the return to the ball return device is prohibited is prolonged as a whole.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to always equalize the storage amount of balls on the pachinko island stand to quickly respond to a decrease or increase in the storage amount. An object of the present invention is to provide a pachinko ball exchange device that can be used.

[0006]

Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve the above object, specific means adopted by the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the first embodiment, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 14 to FIG. 14, in the ball interchange device between pachinko islands that exchanges balls according to each ball storage amount of the plurality of pachinko islands 1, in step 20, the ball storage amount of a certain pachinko island stand When it is determined by the sensor S1 that has reached the lower limit, in step 22, a receiving device control process for receiving replenishment of balls from the adjacent pachinko island via the ball exchange device is performed, and further in steps 60 to 62, The present invention is also characterized in that control is performed so that the adjacent pachinko island stand is also supplied with balls from the outer pachinko island stand via the ball interchange device. With this configuration, the ball storage amount is also replenished from the outer pachinko island to the pachinko island that is adjacent to the pachinko island that has reached the lower limit. The amount of increase / decrease can be reduced to achieve a uniform storage amount, which can quickly respond to a decrease / increase in the storage amount, and as a result, the time during which the return to the entire ball return device is prohibited can be shortened. it can.

Further, according to the second aspect of the present invention, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 22 to FIG. 22, in the ball exchange device between pachinko islands that exchanges balls in accordance with the amount of each ball stored on the plurality of pachinko islands 1, in step 90, the ball storage of one pachinko island B is performed. When it is determined by the sensor S5 that the amount has reached the upper limit, the pachinko island E having the smallest ball storage amount is specified from the plurality of pachinko islands in the AC relationship in steps 111 to 113, and steps 120 and 121 are performed. Pachinko Island E specified from Pachinko Island B that reached the upper limit in
Pachinko island stand B to E in between so that the ball moves
The above-mentioned ball exchange device is controlled. With this configuration, the ball storage amount can be moved from the pachinko island stand B in which the ball storage amount has reached the upper limit to the pachinko island stand E with the smallest ball amount. It is possible to reduce the amount of storage to a uniform amount, to quickly respond to a decrease or increase in the amount of storage, and as a result, it is possible to shorten the time during which return to the entire ball return device is prohibited.

[0008] In the invention of claim 3, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 23 to FIG.
The customer attending rate (see FIG. 23) in step 1
In step 15, when it is determined that the guest-attached flag is not ON because it is higher than the predetermined value, the movement control of the ball from the pachinko island B reaching the upper limit to the specified pachinko island E. Step 117 is not executed. With this configuration, even if the pachinko island stand E is identified as having the least amount of stored balls, it is expected that the amount of balls to be returned afterwards will increase if the number of customers is high. By avoiding the movement of the ball from the reached pachinko island B, it is possible to prevent useless exchange of the ball.

According to the invention of claim 4, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 24 to FIG.
A predetermined time (see FIG. 24) is calculated in step 114 in accordance with the attending rate of the players in step 114. The ball from the pachinko island B reaching the upper limit for the calculated time to the specified pachinko island E is calculated. Steps 121, 124, and 123 are performed so as to execute the movement control. With this configuration, it is possible to finely control the movement of the ball with respect to the pachinko island E specified as having the smallest ball storage amount in accordance with the predicted value of the ball to be returned to the pachinko island E that is expected thereafter, Useless exchange of balls can be prevented.

Further, in the invention of claim 5, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 9, FIG. 20, FIG. 27, and FIG. 28, in the ball exchange device between pachinko islands that exchanges balls in accordance with the amount of each ball stored in the plurality of pachinko islands 1, step 97 is performed in step 97.
When it is determined by the sensor S1 that the ball storage amount of the two pachinko islands A has reached the lower limit, pachinko islands having a predetermined ball storage amount or more from the plurality of pachinko islands in the AC relationship in steps 141 to 144. The closest Pachinko Island stand C
And controlling the ball exchange devices of the pachinko islands A to C located therebetween so that the ball moves from the specified pachinko island C to the pachinko island A that has reached the lower limit in steps 152 and 153. It is characterized by the following. With this configuration, it is possible to move the ball storage amount from the pachinko island stand C having the storage amount equal to or more than the predetermined amount to the pachinko island stand A where the ball storage amount has reached the lower limit. The amount of increase / decrease can be reduced to achieve a uniform storage amount, which can quickly respond to a decrease / increase in the storage amount, and as a result, the time during which the return to the entire ball return device is prohibited can be shortened. it can.

Further, in the invention of claim 6, FIG.
9, as shown in FIGS. 20, 27 to 32, the balls of the pachinko islands A to C located therebetween so that the balls move from the specified pachinko island C to the pachinko island A which has reached the lower limit. The amount of balls moved when the AC device is controlled is calculated and stored (steps 160 to 173), and the amount of balls stored on the pachinko island stand A, which has reached the lower limit in step 94, returns to the predetermined amount of balls stored. If it is determined by the sensor S3 that the number of balls calculated and stored is moved from the pachinko island A that has reached the lower limit to the specified pachinko island C in steps 180 to 189, the pachinko island A is located between them. ~
The ball exchange device of C is controlled. With this configuration, the pachinko island stand A, which has reached the lower limit at first, recovers the ball storage amount by the moving ball which is not enough with its own storage ball alone, but is finally returned by the customer's returned ball. There is a possibility of storing more than the initial amount of balls stored, and to prevent this, return the number of balls replenished during business hours to the replenished pachinko island stand C when the stored amount returns to the predetermined value Thereby, the storage amount of all pachinko islands can be quickly equalized with the initial value.

Further, in the invention of claim 7, FIG.
As shown in FIGS. 2, 7 and 8, the ball exchange device is adjacent to an AC tank 7 for storing balls discharged by the ball discharge device 5 erected on the pachinko island stand 1. An AC upper gutter 70 sloping toward the center of the upper portion between the AC tanks 7, 7 and a AC lower gutter 7, which is provided at a lower portion between the adjacent AC tanks 7, 7.
AC lower gutter 7 whose upper center is connected and abutted so that the balls flowing down in the lower center of center 0 are guided in a cross shape.
A stopper device 61 provided at a connection portion between the AC tank 7 and the AC upper gutter 70 and driven into a closed state for preventing the flow of balls into the AC upper gutter 70 and an open state for allowing the ball to flow; , The control of the ball exchange device,
The opening and closing drive of the stopper device 61 is controlled. With this configuration, the movement of the AC balls can be performed under the natural flow, so that the number of the AC balls per unit time can be increased.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, a schematic configuration of a pachinko island stand 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a relationship between a plurality of pachinko island stands 1, and FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view showing an internal structure of one pachinko island stand 1.

As shown in FIG. 2, the pachinko island stand 1 is framed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape, as is well known, and the pachinko machine 2 is arranged at the center in the longitudinal side of the pachinko machine.
In the pachinko island stand 1, a ball returning device 3 for returning the pachinko balls obtained by the pachinko machine 2 is provided in a side of the pachinko machine 2 on one side of the pachinko machine storage unit 4 in the center thereof. However, the ball return device 3 is desirably provided on the row side of the pachinko machine 2 in which the later-described non-priority storage tank 12 is built. This is because the storage tank 1 on the non-priority side, which is almost never full in normal business conditions.
This is because the prize ball can be reliably returned from the ball returning device 3 to the ball 2. A return port is formed in the ball return device 3, and the pachinko balls (prize balls) returned from the return port are guided onto an upper gutter 21 described later. Further, although not shown, the return opening of the ball return device 3 is driven to open and close by an electric drive source (for example, a motor or a solenoid).

At the substantially center of the pachinko island stand 1, a doffing and feeding device storage portion 4 is formed, and a doffing and feeding device 5 is stored and installed in the doffing and feeding device storage portion 4. The ball lifting device 5 according to the present embodiment lifts pachinko balls by a belt-shaped transport belt (not shown in detail), and the belt-shaped transport belt is installed in the vertical direction with respect to the pachinko island stand 1. The pachinko balls are then transported to the top. An upper tank 6 for temporarily storing the pumped pachinko balls is provided above the ball pumping device 5. From the upper tank 6, supply gutters (not shown) are provided on the left and right in an inclined shape so that pachinko balls flow down from the upper tank 6. This supply gutter is provided with a distribution chute (not shown) corresponding to each pachinko machine 2 so as to take in pachinko balls flowing down the supply gutter. The pachinko balls taken in by the distribution chute are counted by a counting device (not shown) provided at the lower part of the distribution chute, and then supplied to a prize ball tank (not shown) provided at an upper rear surface of the pachinko machine 2 to be played. Used as a prize ball paid out to the player by the player. Note that FIG.
In the figure, a pachinko island rental machine 1 not provided with a ladle ball rental machine is illustrated, but when a configuration is provided in which a ladle ball rental machine is provided so as to be sandwiched between the respective pachinko machines 2, this platform is provided. A distribution chute is provided so as to correspond to a lending machine.
In this case, an independent distribution chute may be provided corresponding to the tama ball lending machine.
It may be a distribution chute that diverges between the machine and the tama ball lending machine.

FIG. 1 and FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, an AC tank 7 constituting a ball AC device inserted between a plurality of pachinko islands 1 is provided so as to communicate with each other. The ball exchange device includes an AC tank 7 and an AC tank 7 of the pachinko island stand 1 adjacent to the AC tank 7.
And an arc-shaped lower AC gutter 71 for receiving an AC ball from the AC tank 7 of the adjacent pachinko island 1 into a lower portion of the AC tank 7. I have. The above-described upper tank 6 and AC tank 7 are covered with a cover body 8, but it is desirable that this cover body 8 be detachably mounted. Also, the upper tank 6 and the AC tank 7
The ball exchange device including is described in detail later.

On the other hand, storage tanks 11 and 12 are provided on the lower side of the pachinko island stand 1 and on both sides of the doffing and feeding device 5. The storage tanks 11 and 12 are formed larger as a larger amount of pachinko balls are stored. In particular,
The number of pachinko balls stored in the storage sections of the storage tanks 11 and 12 is such that the number of pachinko machines 2 installed on the pachinko island stand 1 can sufficiently cope with various game states (for example,
(150,000 to 200,000 each).

Thus, the used balls discharged from each pachinko machine 2 are discharged downward from a ball discharge nozzle (not shown) of the out-ball box 9 having a counting function. In the pachinko machine 2 at a position facing the storage tanks 11, 12, the ball discharge nozzle is inclined downward from the downstream end (to the center of the island) toward the upstream end at the center of the storage tanks 11, 12. In the pachinko machine 2 which is disposed facing the out ball guiding inner gutter 13 provided and is separated from the storage tanks 11 and 12, the out ball guiding gutter 10 which is inclined downward from the island end toward the storage tanks 11 and 12 is provided. It is arranged to face. The out ball guiding gutter 10 is connected to a merging box 14 attached to the outside of the upstream end side walls of the storage tanks 11 and 12, and the out ball guiding inner gutter 13 is also connected to the merging box 14. 14 is connected to an out ball guiding / merging gutter 15 which is arranged along the lower part of one side wall of the storage tanks 11 and 12 toward the introduction gutter 18 of the ball lifting / feeding device 5. Therefore, the used balls discharged from each pachinko machine 2 are:
It is preferentially guided to the entrance portion of the ball lifting device 5 through the out ball guiding inner gutter 13 or the out ball guiding gutter 10, the merging box 14, and the out ball guiding merging gutter 15. However, the left and right storage tanks 11 and 12 have slightly different structures due to the arrangement of the doffing and feeding device 5 as described later, which will be described in detail later.

The storage tanks 11 and 12 are respectively connected to overflow boxes 22 for returning the pachinko balls overflowing from the upper tank 6 and the AC balls flowing from the AC tank 7 to the lower part. The overflow box 22 is a rectangular parallelepiped box provided so as to use the space adjacent to the doffing and conveying device 5, and the inside thereof is vertically partitioned by a branch partition 23. The branch partition 23 is provided close to one side of the overflow box 22 and forms a box priority passage 22a by alternately providing a plurality of flow-down plates in a stepwise manner in a passage on one side communicating with the wide area thereof. A plurality of flow-down plates are alternately provided in steps on the other side of the passage that communicates with the narrow region to form the box non-priority passage 22b.

However, the pachinko balls overflowing from the upper tank 6 and the AC balls flowing from the AC tank 7 are preferentially guided to the box priority passage 22a, and when the box priority passage 22a is full, the box non-passage is stopped. It overflows into the priority passage 22b. And
Box priority passage 22a and box non-priority passage 22b
Is the storage tank 11 on the left (hereinafter referred to as priority storage tank 11).
And the storage tank 12 on the right (hereinafter,
(It may be referred to as a non-priority storage tank 12). Thus, in the present embodiment,
Since the overflow mechanism is formed in a box shape instead of the conventional flexible pipe, the generation of noise due to the returned pachinko balls can be extremely reduced. Has a storage function of storing about 20 to 30,000 pieces), so that a space that has not been used conventionally can be effectively used as a storage space inside the pachinko island stand 1. In FIG. 2, the overflow box 2
2 is drawn on the front side of the doffing and conveying device 5, but this is to show the structure of the overflow box 22 in detail. Formed on the side.

A plurality of storage level detection sensors S1 to S5 (see FIG. 10) for detecting the amount of stored balls are provided on the inner side walls of the storage tanks 11 and 12, respectively. According to the experiments by the applicants, the storage tanks 11 and 12
Changes in the storage of pachinko balls in the storage tanks 11 and 12
It was found to be staying from the upstream side. For this reason, the storage level detection sensors S1 to S5 are arranged substantially linearly in a horizontal direction, and the storage level detection sensor S1 disposed upstream of the priority storage tank 11 detects the lower limit of the storage amount, while the storage level detection sensors S1 to S5 are non-priority. The storage level detection sensor S5 disposed downstream of the storage tank 12 detects the upper limit of the storage amount. Then, based on the detection signals of the detection sensors S1 to S5, the storage level indicators 24 attached to the outside of both ends of the pachinko island stand 1 store the storage tanks 11, 12 respectively.
The number of balls stored in the pachinko island table 1 is equalized by controlling the opening / closing of the stopper device 61 of the ball exchange device while notifying the stored amount inside.

Here, the detailed structure of the storage tanks 11 and 12 will be described with reference to FIG. In addition, priority storage tank 1
1 and the non-priority storage tank 12 have slightly different structures, but the same reference numerals are given to components having the same function. The storage tanks 11 and 12 cause the balls received from the overflow box 22 to flow down on the upper gutter 21 and sequentially store the balls from the upstream side on the bottom surface inclined toward the ball-lifting device 5, and doff the stored balls. It leads to the introduction gutter 18 of the feeding device 5. However, the balls stored in the priority storage tank 11 are placed on the bottom surface of the priority storage tank 11 because the introduction gutter 18 of the ball discharging device 5 is arranged in a direction facing the bottom surface of the non-priority storage tank 12. It is guided to the small lifting device 20 from the communicating lower connecting gutter 19, and is supplied to the non-priority storage tank 12 by the small lifting device 20.

In the priority storage tank 11, there is formed an out ball guiding internal gutter 13 for receiving a used ball from the pachinko machine 2 arranged substantially at the center as described above. Out balls flowing down the guiding inner gutter 13 and the out ball guiding gutter 10 are transferred to the connecting gutter 16 via the merging box 14 and the out ball guiding merging gutter 15,
It is sent to the non-priority storage tank 12 from the connecting gutter 16. As described above, the priority storage tank 11 sends the received pachinko balls to the non-priority storage tank 12 via the small-sized lifting device 20 or the communication gutter 16 instead of directly leading out the pachinko balls to the doffing and feeding device 5. That is, the pachinko island stand 1 of the present embodiment has a configuration in which the pachinko balls received in the storage tanks 11 and 12 are collectively guided from the storage tank 12 side to the ball-lifting device 5. This is the introduction gutter 1
8 is directed only toward one of the storage tanks 12 in order to make the inflow of the balls into the doffing and conveying device 5 smooth and to sufficiently exert the unloading capability of the doffing and discharging device 5, and to improve the pachinko island. This is because the island width of the base 1 is formed to be narrow.

Further, in the priority storage tank 11, the reason why the two upper and lower communication gutters connected to the non-priority storage tank 12 are provided is that the communication gutter 16 connected to the upper out ball guiding / merging gutter 15 is used. A relatively high position, specifically, a position higher than the bottom surface of the non-priority storage tank 12, in order to preferentially guide the polluted pachinko balls to the doffing and conveying device 5 without storing them in the priority storage tank 11. It is necessary to provide. Otherwise, the out balls that flow down the out ball induction merging gutter 15 cannot naturally flow down to the non-priority storage tank 12 side. On the other hand, if the bottom surface of the priority storage tank 11 is matched with the height position of the out ball merging gutter 15, the pachinko balls stored in the priority storage tank 11 naturally flow down to the non-priority storage tank 12 via the communication gutter 16. However, since the position of the bottom surface is increased, there is a disadvantage that the storage amount in the priority storage tank 11 is reduced accordingly. For this reason, the height position of the bottom surface of the priority storage tank 11 is lowered to increase the storage amount, and the lower communication gutter 19 communicating with the bottom surface is increased.
Is connected to the small lifting device 20 and is sent to the non-priority storage tank 12 by the small lifting device 20.

A storage ball guide gutter 17 is provided on one side of the bottom surface of the priority storage tank 11. The storage ball guide gutter 17 takes in the pachinko balls stored in the priority storage tank 11 and takes the balls stored in the upstream part or the middle part thereof and guides them to the downstream side. The function of uniformly guiding the pachinko balls stored in the priority storage tank 11 to the lower connecting gutter 19 so that the pachinko balls do not stay in one place is exhibited.
Similarly, a storage ball guiding gutter 17 is provided also on the bottom surface of the non-priority storage tank 12, and the pachinko balls stored in the non-priority storage tank 12 are uniformly guided to the introduction gutter 18. However, the upper part of the storage ball guiding gutter 17 provided on the non-priority storage tank 12 side has an out ball guiding merging gutter 15.
Are provided so as to overlap with each other, and the outlet of the out ball guiding / merging gutter 15 is closer to the introduction gutter 18 than the outlet of the storage ball guiding / merging gutter 17. Covers the upper part of the ball flowing out of the storage ball guiding gutter 17 and stops the ball of the storage ball guiding gutter 17, so that the out ball flowing down the out ball guiding merging gutter 15 is preferentially guided to the introduction gutter 18. It is supposed to be.

In the present embodiment, the priority of pachinko balls guided to the introduction gutter 18 is as follows. First,
The types of pachinko balls guided to the introduction gutter 18 are the following four types. Pachinko balls stored on the bottom plate of the non-priority storage tank 12. A pachinko ball that flows down the out ball guide merging gutter 15 of the non-priority storage tank 12. Pachinko balls stored on the bottom surface of the priority storage tank 11 and sent to the non-priority storage tank 12 by the small lifting device 20. The pachinko balls sent down to the non-priority storage tank 12 by the connecting gutter 16 flowing down the out ball guide merging gutter 15 of the priority storage tank 11.

Of these, the pachinko balls that are introduced into the introduction gutter 18 most preferentially are pachinko balls that are guided directly to the introduction gutter 18 through the non-priority storage tank 12.
The second is a pachinko ball that is guided from inside the priority storage tank 11 to the non-priority storage tank 12 through the communication gutter 16. The third is a pachinko ball that is stored in the priority storage tank 11 and then guided into the non-priority storage tank 12 via the small-sized lifting device 20. The fourth is a pachinko ball stored in the non-priority storage tank 12.

Further, the doffing and feeding device 5 in the present embodiment
Has a capacity of 15000 pieces / min as its lifting capacity, and the small-sized lifting apparatus 20 has a capacity of 10000 pieces / min. The following is a description of how the above balls are sorted under the premise that there is such a lifting ability. That is, the average number of pachinko machines 2 installed on the pachinko island stand 1 is four in total.
Since the number is around 0, the maximum number of balls is 4,000 / min, and the number of pachinko balls is 10,000 / min. Therefore, the number of pachinko balls is 1000 pieces / min. That is, in the pachinko island stand 1 of the present embodiment, approximately 4000 used balls (and pachinko balls) discharged from the plurality of pachinko machines 2 arranged in one minute are discharged with the highest priority,
Next, from the priority storage tank 11 to the non-priority storage tank 12,
Approximately 10,000 return balls (pachinko balls) transferred per minute are pumped out, and the remaining approximately 1,000 return balls and return balls (pachinko balls) stored in the non-priority storage tank 12 at the end. Is to be transported.

The outline of the pachinko island stand 1 according to the embodiment has been described above. As described above, the pachinko island stand 1 according to the present embodiment has a ball exchange device inserted between adjacent pachinko island stands 1. Has been passed. Therefore, a detailed structure of the ball exchange device will be described below with reference to FIGS. 3 is a perspective view showing a relationship between the upper tank 6 and the AC tank 7, FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an internal structure of the upper tank 6, and FIG. FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the flow of balls in the upper tank 6 and the AC tank 7, and FIG. 7 shows the relationship between the AC tank 7 and the AC upper gutter 70 and the AC lower arch gutter 71. 8 is a cross-sectional view of an intersection between an AC upper gutter 70 and an AC lower arch gutter 71, and FIG.
Is a pachinko island stand 1 showing a different embodiment of the ball exchange device.
It is a perspective view of.

As described above, the ball AC device includes an AC tank 7, an AC upper gutter 70 gently connected from the AC tank 7 to the AC tank 7 of the adjacent pachinko island stand 1, and an adjacent pachinko machine. An AC-shaped lower arch gutter 71 for receiving an AC ball from the AC tank 7 of the island stand 1 in the lower part of the AC tank 7, but firstly the AC tank 7 and the AC tank 7 are closely related to each other. The upper tank 6 will be described with reference to FIGS.

As shown in FIGS. 3, 4, and 6, the upper tank 6 has a box-like shape having a ball inlet 30 formed on one side of the upper tank for receiving the ball discharged by the ball discharging device 5. And the inside thereof is branched by a branch vertical plate 33 into a branch space 31 and an overflow space 32. The diversion space 31 is a space into which the pachinko balls flowing from the ball inlet 30 enter first, and the diversion space 3
The pachinko balls entering 1 fall while being weakened downward by step plates 34 to 36 provided so as to be inclined inward alternately, from the stepped bottom plate 37 constituting the bottom surface of the branch space 31. It is led to a replenishment outlet 38 opened on one side wall of the upper tank 6. This supply outlet 38
Is connected to a pachinko machine 2 and a supply gutter (not shown) for supplying balls to the pachinko machine lending machine arranged one side (right side in FIG. 2) from the center of the pachinko island stand 1.

On the side of the vertical plate 33 of the step plate 36 provided above the stepped bottom plate 37, a lower guide side plate 39 inclined toward the other side wall of the upper tank 6 is provided. A supply connection port 48 is opened at a position corresponding to the tip of the side plate 39. The supply connection port 48 has a supply connection cylinder 41 inserted between the supply tank 48 and the AC tank 7.
Is connected. The downstream end of the supply connecting cylinder 41 is connected to a receiving port 55 of the AC tank 7, and the receiving port 55 and a supply outlet 58 described later are communicated. This supply outlet 58 is located on the other side of the center of the pachinko island stand 1 (FIG. 2).
(A left side) is connected to a replenishing gutter (not shown) for replenishing balls to the pachinko machine 2 and the betting machine.

The branched vertical plate 3 of the uppermost step plate 34
On the third side, an upper guide side plate 40 is provided which is inclined toward the other side wall of the upper tank 6, and an AC communication port 49 is opened at a position corresponding to the tip of the upper guide side plate 40. The AC communication tube 49 is connected to the AC communication port 49 and is inserted between the AC communication port 49 and the AC tank 7. In addition,
A stopper plate 40a is fixed to an upper portion of the upper guide side plate 40 immediately before the AC communication port 49. The stopper plate 40a is a ball that has flowed from the ball inlet 30 and that has passed through the step plate 34 and the upper guide side plate 40. Is reliably guided downward so as not to flow out of the AC communication port 49, and only the balls overflowing to the upper guide side plate 40 are flown out to the AC communication port 49.

On the other hand, the upper end of the branch vertical plate 33 is located slightly above the upper guide side plate 40, and the overflow space 32 branched by the branch vertical plate 33 is provided.
Also, step plates 43 to 46 which are alternately inclined inward are provided. The step plates 43 to 46 are for guiding the ball overflowing from the upper end of the branching vertical plate 33 downward while weakening the momentum of the ball. The lowermost step plate 46 projects forward and forms the bottom surface of the overflow guide gutter 47. ing. The lower end of the overflow guide gutter 47 is connected to the box priority passage 22 of the overflow box 22.
a. Note that members (rubber, synthetic resin, etc.) for reducing the impact of the falling ball are attached to the upper surfaces of the step plates 43 to 45 provided in the overflow space 32. It may be attached to the step plates 34 to 36 or the step-like bottom plate 37 provided.

In the upper tank 6 configured as described above, the pachinko balls pumped by the ball pumping device 5 are guided from the ball inlet 30 to the diversion space 31, and thereafter, the step plates 34 to 36 and the step-like plates are formed. From the bottom plate 37 to the supply outlet 38 with the highest priority, it is supplied to one side supply gutter. Since the number of pachinko balls used in the supply gutter on one side is far greater than the number of pachinko balls used by the ball lifting device 5, the balls that have flowed into the diversion space 31 are immediately stored and accumulated, The accumulated balls are firstly a middle step plate 36 and a lower guiding side plate 3.
The liquid flows out from the supply port 9 to the supply connection port 48, and is supplied from the supply outlet 58 to the supply gutter on the other side via the supply connection cylinder 41 and the AC tank 7 as described above. Since the number of pachinko balls to be pumped is obviously larger than the number of pachinko balls used in the above-mentioned left and right supply gutters, the diversion space 31 further accumulates pachinko balls. It is led to the AC tank 7 by being guided to the upper guide side plate 40 and the stopper plate 40a. The balls guided to the AC tank 7 are supplied to the adjacent pachinko island 1 through an AC upper gutter 70 as described later. In this case, the maximum number is 6,000 pieces / minute (3000 pieces / minute for one AC upper gutter 70 alone, but there are two on the left and right sides). Thus, since the number of pumping is larger than the sum of the number of supply to the left and right supply gutters and the AC tank 7, the number of pachinko balls further accumulates in the diversion space 31, and the accumulated balls are It jumps over the upper end of the branch vertical plate 33, flows out into the overflow space 32, and is guided from the overflow guide gutter 47 to the overflow box 22.

That is, in the present embodiment, as long as the ball-lifting device 5 is lifting balls at a normal lifting capacity (15,000 pieces / min), supply to the left and right supply gutters and the AC tank 7 is not performed. Even when the maximum value has been reached, the balls are constantly circulated from the overflow space 32 to the overflow box 22.

On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 3, 5, 6, and 7, the AC tank 7 communicated with the upper tank 6 is provided in a horizontal direction slightly above the center of the rectangular parallelepiped box. The feed space 50 and the receiving space 51 are branched by a branch horizontal plate 52, and a receiving port 53 and a feeding port 54 are opened so as to face the feeding space 50. Inlet 5
Reference numeral 3 designates a connection of the downstream end of the AC communication cylinder 42, and a feed port 54 is formed on each of the left and right side walls adjacent to the side wall on which the reception port 53 is formed, and will be described later. The upper end of the AC upper gutter 70 to be connected is connected. Thus, a passage for guiding the pachinko balls received from the receiving port 53 to the feeding port 54 is formed in the feeding space 50, and the path is provided with a passage forming plate 50a (see FIG. 5). It is formed by doing. The AC upper gutter 70 is connected to the outside of the feed port 54 as described above, and a stopper device 61 is attached between the feed port 54 and the AC upper gutter 70. The stopper device 61 includes a motor 62 as shown in FIG.
A lifting plate 63 that is raised and lowered by the motor 62
And a guide piece 64 for guiding the operation of the elevating plate 63. And this stopper device 61
Open / close drive is controlled based on signals from the ball quantity sensors S1 to S5 provided in the storage tanks 11 and 12 of the own island and the ball quantity sensors S1 to S5 provided in the storage tanks 11 and 12 of the other islands. . This will be described in detail later.

The receiving space 51 is provided with a receiving port 55, a supply port 58, and a receiving port 59. The receiving port 55 is connected to the downstream end of the supply connecting cylinder 41, and a supply port 58 is formed in a lower part of the side wall facing the receiving port 55. And the entrance 5
In the receiving space 51, a pair of partitioning plates 56 are erected so that the pachinko balls 5 are connected to the supply outlet 58, and the pachinko balls received from the receiving inlet 55 are guided only to the supply outlet 58. In the space formed by the pair of partition plates 56, an inclined bottom surface 57 is provided on the bottom surface thereof, which is inclined downward toward the supply outlet 58, and a step plate 57a is provided on the upper portion of the supply outlet 58 in a reversely inclined shape. Provided, reception 5
The pachinko ball received from 5 is temporarily received by the step plate 57a to reduce the momentum, and then discharged from the supply outlet 58 by the inclined bottom surface 57. The receiving port 59 faces the space outside the pair of partition plates 56.
The end of the AC lower arch gutter 71 is connected and fixed to the outside of the receiving port 59, and the pachinko balls received from the AC lower arch gutter 71 are received in the outer space of the partition plate 56, and then constitute the bottom surface. It is discharged to the outside of the AC box 7 from a drop port 60a formed in the center of the bottom plate 60.
The pachinko balls discharged from the falling port 60a are guided to a box priority passage 22a of the overflow box 22, as shown in FIG.

The structure of the upper tank 6 and the AC tank 7 is as follows.
The AC upper gutter 70 and the AC lower arch gutter 71, which have the above-described structure, will be described next with reference to FIGS. 1, 7, and 8. FIG.
One end of the AC upper gutter 70 is connected and fixed to the feed port 54 of the AC tank 7, and the other end is gently inclined toward substantially the center between the adjacent pachinko island stands 1 and downward at the tip. AC lower opening 73 is formed. Therefore, the AC upper gutter 70 is fixedly extended from the AC tank 7 of the adjacent pachinko island stand 1, respectively. On the other hand, the AC lower arch gutter 71 is constituted by a single arc-shaped gutter whose both ends are connected and fixed to the receiving port 59 of the adjacent AC tank 7, and an AC upper opening 74 is formed at the top of the arc. Have been. The AC upper opening 74 and the AC lower opening 73 communicate face-to-face with each other to guide the pachinko balls flowing down in an intersecting manner.
In order to reliably connect the AC upper opening 74 and the AC lower opening 73, a connector 75 that wraps and fixes the outer peripheries of the two AC upper gutters 70 and the AC lower arch gutter 71 is fixed. Note that the AC upper gutter 70 and the AC lower arch gutter 71 are made of a metal gutter member having a U-shaped cross section with an open upper surface and a material such as semi-rigid urethane adhered to the inner periphery of the gutter member. By covering the lid cover plate to which the material is adhered from the upper surface, the cover member is configured as a cylindrical material having a rectangular cross section as a whole, and exhibits a noise reduction effect. Further, a sensor 72 is provided at the lower end of the AC lower arch gutter 71 (immediately before the receiving port 59), and the sensor 72 monitors a flowing state of the AC ball, a failure of the stopper device 61, and the like. Note that rubber or a synthetic resin may be attached below each urethane material to improve the vibration absorption.

The configuration of the pachinko island stand 1 according to the embodiment has been described above. However, in the cover body 8 covering the upper tank 6 and the AC tank 7 in the above embodiment, the AC upper gutter 70 and the AC lower arch are provided. Although the gutter 71 is shown as being penetrated, as shown in FIG.
A connection rubber 81 may be provided in the penetrating portion of the cover body to improve the appearance and stability of the ball exchange device. In the illustrated embodiment, a tank cover 80 covering the shapes of the upper tank 6 and the AC tank 7 is provided.
A connection rubber 81 is provided at a portion where the AC upper gutter 70 and the AC lower arch gutter 71 penetrate to cover the bases of the AC upper gutter and the AC lower arch gutter 71. With this configuration, the AC upper gutter 70 and the AC lower arch gutter 71 can be stably supported, and the beauty of the ball AC device can be improved. When the AC upper gutter 70 and the AC lower arch gutter 71 are configured to be slidable in order to change the connection position, the connecting rubber 81 may cover the slide groove.

Thus, the ball AC device according to the present embodiment described above comprises an AC upper gutter 70 gently inclined toward the center above the adjacent AC tanks 7,
An AC lower arch gutter 71 formed in an arch shape, which is inserted into a lower portion between the adjacent AC tanks 7 and has an upper center connected and abutted at a lower center of the AC upper gutter 70;
AC gutter 70 and AC lower arch gutter 71
The pachinko balls that flow down the inside at the central intersection with the center are guided in an intersecting manner, so that the AC upper gutter 70 formed linearly is formed into an AC lower arch gutter 7 formed in an arch shape.
The arch structure 1 can be supported from below to secure sufficient strength, and even if a pachinko ball stays in the AC upper gutter 70 and the AC lower arch gutter 71, it is twisted or bent by its weight. Nothing. Therefore, there is no need to support the AC gutter with a separately prepared supporting member as in the related art, which simplifies the structure and is preferable in aesthetic appearance.
In the structure according to the present embodiment, if a ball is clogged at any point of the AC lower arch gutter 71 or a downstream side thereof and the ball flows backward through the AC lower arch gutter 71,
AC lower arch gutter 7 in AC tank 7 on the side that sent out the ball
Since the current flows backward through the flow path 1, the entire AC lower arch gutter 71 is not filled with balls, and the load is reduced accordingly. Further, even if a thin material is used as a member constituting the AC upper gutter 70 and the AC lower arch gutter 71, sufficient strength can be obtained for the arch structure, and overall cost reduction can be achieved. it can.

Further, the AC lower arch gutter 71 is an arc-shaped portion extending in a substantially horizontal direction for the pachinko balls received in a cross shape from the AC upper gutter 70 provided at a gentle slope so as to weaken the speed and gradually increase the speed. Therefore, it is possible to weaken the downward force of the pachinko balls that flow down as compared with the inclined AC gutter that is guided linearly as in the related art, and it is possible to suppress an accident that the AC tank on the receiving side is damaged.

In the above-described embodiment, the ball exchange device in which the upper tank 6 and the AC tank 7 are separately provided is shown. However, these are formed by one tank, and the inside is formed in the upper portion of the present embodiment. By partitioning the tank so as to have a structure similar to that of the tank 6 and the alternating current tank 7, one unit can be used.

Next, the operation of the above ball exchange device will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 10 is a side view showing the internal structure of the pachinko island stand 1 showing the positions of the sensors S1 to S5 for controlling the stopper device 61 and the ball return device 3 of the ball exchange device, and FIG. FIG. 12 is a main flow chart showing control of the AC device, and FIG.
FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a supply device control processing subroutine in the main flow diagram. FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a receiving device control process subroutine in the main flow diagram.
4 is a flowchart showing an additional processing subroutine in the main flowchart, FIGS. 15 to 17 are explanatory diagrams for explaining states corresponding to the respective flowcharts, and FIG.
It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the ball return apparatus 3.

Referring to FIG. 10, in the present embodiment,
Four sensors are provided in the priority storage tank 11, and the sensor S1 on the most upstream side constitutes a lower limit sensor S1, and a sensor S2 on the downstream side of the sensor S1 constitutes a lower limit release sensor S2. The two sensors are merely sensors for detecting the amount of balls. On the other hand, the non-priority storage tank 12 is also provided with four sensors, the most downstream sensor S5 constituting the upper limit sensor S5, and the downstream sensor S4 of the sensor S5 as the upper limit release sensor S5.
4, and one sensor is further disposed, and the sensor S3 on the most upstream side constitutes the intermediate sensor S3. Among the sensors S1 to S5 described above, the lower limit sensor S1 and the upper limit sensor S5 are used for controlling the opening / closing operation of the ball return device 3, and the lower limit release sensor S2 and the upper limit release sensor S
4 is used for controlling the ball exchange device, and the intermediate sensor S3 is not used in the present embodiment, and is simply used as the storage tanks 11 and 12 like the unmarked sensor.
It is merely a sensor for detecting the stored amount of balls in the inside.

Among the operations controlled by the above-described sensors S1 to S5, the ball AC device control is the same as that shown in FIG.
In step 10, it is determined whether or not the upper limit release sensor S4 of the own island is ON, that is, whether or not the storage amount is stored in the upper limit release sensor S4 provided in the non-priority storage tank 12 or more. When it is determined that the replenishment has been performed, the supply flag is turned on in step 11. afterwards,
In step 12, a supply device control processing subroutine is executed.

As shown in FIG. 12, this replenishing device control processing is performed while judging whether or not the adjacent left and right pachinko islands have reached the upper limit (position of the upper limit release sensor S4). That is, in step 40, it is determined whether or not the replenishment flags of both neighboring islands are ON (whether or not both neighboring islands have reached the upper limit).
Since replenishment is not necessary, the replenishment flag of the own island is turned off in step 41, and the process proceeds to step 19 described later to close both shutters of the own island. On the other hand, when it is determined in step 40 that the replenishment flags of both adjacent islands are not ON, it is determined in step 42 whether the replenishment flag is ON in the left island. That is, in step 43, the stopper device 61 (shutter and display;
The same applies hereinafter), and if the supply flag of the left island is not ON, the shutter for supplying the ball to the left island is opened in step 44. Similarly, in step 45, it is determined whether or not the replenishment flag is ON in the right island. If it is ON, it means that the right island has reached the upper limit.
The shutter for supplying the ball to the right island is closed at 6 and the shutter for supplying the ball to the right island is opened at step 47 if the supply flag of the right island is not ON.

Thus, while the replenishing device control processing in step 12 is being executed, in step 13 the upper limit release sensor S4
It is determined whether or not is turned off. If not, the process returns to step 11 and returns to step 11.
When it is determined that the upper limit release sensor S4 has been turned OFF, the timer is reset in step 14, and then the timer for a fixed time (3 minutes in the present embodiment) is set in step 15 and the timer is reset. Until the time (3 minutes) set by the timer elapses, the same supply device control processing as in step 12 is executed in step 16, and after it is determined in step 17 that 3 minutes have elapsed,
At step 18, the replenishment flag is turned off.
In step 9, both shutters in the island are closed, and the processing when the storage amount reaches the upper limit is ended.

By the operation realized by the above-described steps 10 to 19, the shutter is driven to open for a predetermined period of time after the detection output from the upper limit release sensor S4 is no longer derived. Therefore, the storage amount at the end of the shutter opening operation can be reliably positioned upstream (small storage amount side) of the upper limit release sensor S4, so that it takes some time before the upper limit release sensor S4 operates again. For example, it is possible to minimize the time required to prevent the return of the ball return device 3, and it is possible to smoothly return a prize ball by a player, thereby improving service. it can. Further, if the set time of the timer for measuring the fixed time can be changed and adjusted, the remaining storage amount on the upstream side from the upper limit release sensor S4 can be set to a desired storage amount.

The above-described replenishing device control processing will be described with reference to FIG. 15 which illustrates actual storage amounts of a plurality of pachinko islands 1 (in the case of five rows A to E).
As shown in (A), at the beginning of business, pachinko islands A to E
Are stored in each of the pachinko islands A to E as initial values. As you continue to operate,
As shown in (B), when the storage amount varies, for example, when the storage amount of the central pachinko island stand C exceeds S4, the shutter of the pachinko island stand C is opened and the pachinko islands on both sides are opened. Balls are supplied to the tables B and D, and finally, FIG.
As shown in (C), the left and right pachinko islands B and D are replenished so that the storage amount of the pachinko island stand C is slightly smaller than the sensor S4 (the amount reduced by the timer described above). Further, as shown in FIG. 15 (D), when the storage amount of the pachinko islands B and C exceeds S4, the ball is not exchanged between the pachinko islands B and C, The movement of the ball from the island B to the pachinko island A and the movement of the ball from the pachinko island C to the pachinko island D are performed. In addition,
Such a phenomenon that the storage amount of the ball reaches the upper limit (exceeds the position of the sensor S4) rarely occurs because the number of balls held by the player is large, but the storage amount is large. In this case, the above-described replenishing device control processing is performed in consideration of the case.

On the other hand, when the storage amount in the priority storage tank 11 has reached the lower limit, that is, it is determined in step 10 that the upper limit release sensor S4 is not ON, and in step 20, the lower limit release sensor S2 is OFF. When it is determined that the process is performed, first, the receiving flag is turned on in step 21, then the receiving device control process subroutine is executed in step 22, and the additional process subroutine is executed in step 23.

The control of the receiving device in step 22 is performed while judging whether or not the adjacent left and right pachinko islands have reached the lower limit (position of the lower limit release sensor S2) as shown in FIG. It is. That is, step 50
It is determined whether the receiving flag of both neighboring islands is ON (whether both neighboring islands have also reached the lower limit) or not. If both neighboring islands have reached the lower limit, it cannot be received. In step 51, the receiving flag of the self-island is turned off, and the process proceeds to step 31 to be described later, and both shutters of the adjacent AC tanks 7 facing the self-island are closed. Step 5
If it is determined at 0 that the receiving flags of both adjacent islands are not ON, then at step 52, the receiving flags are set to O at the left island.
It is determined whether or not N is set. If it is set to ON, it means that the left island has also reached the lower limit. Therefore, in step 53, the shutter of the left island facing the own island (shutter and display;
The same applies hereinafter) is closed to stop the reception of the ball. If the reception flag of the left island is not ON, the shutter of the left island facing the own island is opened in step 54 to receive the ball. Similarly,
In step 55, it is determined whether or not the receiving flag is ON in the right island. If it is ON, it means that the right island has also reached the lower limit. In step 56, the shutter of the right island facing the own island is determined. Is closed to stop the reception of the ball. If the reception flag of the right island is not ON, the shutter of the right island facing the own island is opened in step 57 to receive the ball and the subroutine ends.

The additional processing in step 23 is the same as that in FIG.
As shown in (1), the next adjacent island on both sides of the island that issued the receiving flag in step 60 is specified, and it is determined whether or not the receiving flag of the island specified in step 61 is OFF (the lower limit has not been reached). When it is determined that the specified island has not reached the lower limit, the shutter of the specified island on the side of the island that issued the receiving flag is opened in step 62, and when it is determined that the specified island has reached the lower limit. Then, the shutter of the island specified in step 63 is closed, and the subroutine ends.

Thus, while the replenishing device control processing and the additional processing in steps 22 and 23 are being executed, it is determined in step 24 whether or not the lower limit release sensor S2 has been turned off. Step 21
When the lower limit canceling sensor S2 is determined to be OFF when it is determined that the lower limit release sensor S2 has been turned off, the shutter of the island specified in the additional processing is closed in step 25, and the timer is reset in step 26. In step 27, a timer for a fixed time (3 minutes in this embodiment) is set, and in step 28, step 22 is executed until the time (3 minutes) set by the timer elapses.
The same receiving device control processing as described above is executed.
After it is determined that the minutes have elapsed, the receiving flag is turned off in step 30, and in step 31, both shutters of the adjacent AC tanks 7 facing the own island are closed and the processing when the storage amount reaches the lower limit is performed. finish.

By the operation realized by the processing of steps 20 to 31 described above, in the receiving apparatus control processing, from when the detection output from the lower limit release sensor S2 is no longer derived until a predetermined time elapses. Since the shutter of the pachinko island stand 1 on both sides is opened and the storage amount at the end of the opening operation of the shutter can be reliably positioned downstream (the side with the larger storage amount) than the lower limit release sensor S2, Since it is possible to have some time margin before the operation of the lower limit release sensor S2, for example,
The return preventing time of the ball return device 3 of the pachinko island stand 1 on both sides can be minimized, and the prize ball can be smoothly returned by the player, so that the service can be improved. Further, if the set time of the timer for measuring the fixed time can be changed and adjusted, the remaining storage amount on the downstream side from the lower limit release sensor S2 can be set to a desired storage amount.

Further, in the additional processing, the pachinko island stand adjacent to the pachinko island stand is also configured to receive replenishment of the ball from the pachinko island stand outside the pachinko island stand through the ball exchange device. The amount of increase or decrease of the storage amount can be reduced to make the storage amount even, and the reduction or increase of the storage amount can be promptly responded. As a result, the time during which the return to the entire ball return device 3 is prohibited is reduced. Can be shorter.

The above-described receiving apparatus control processing and additional processing will be described with reference to FIGS. 16 and 17 illustrating actual storage amounts of a plurality of pachinko islands 1 (in the case of five rows A to E). First, in the receiving device control processing, FIG.
As shown in (A), while continuing to operate, in many cases, the storage amounts of the plurality of pachinko islands A to E decrease and vary from the initial values, and among them, for example, When the storage amount of the central pachinko island C becomes equal to or less than S2, the shutters of the adjacent pachinko islands B and D are opened and the balls are supplied to the pachinko island C,
Finally, as shown in FIG. 16 (B), the left and right pachinko islands B, B and C are set so that the storage amount of the pachinko island C is slightly larger than the sensor S2 (the amount increased by the timer described above).
Replenished from D. Also, as shown in FIG.
If the amount of storage at Pachinko Island C and D is less than S2, no ball exchange between Pachinko Island C and D is performed, but balls from Pachinko Island B to Pachinko Island C. The ball is supplied from the pachinko island stand E to the pachinko island stand D, and finally the storage amounts of the pachinko island stands C and D become slightly larger than the sensor S2 as shown in FIG. Is supplied from the left and right pachinko islands B and E as shown. Furthermore,
As shown in FIG. 16 (E), all pachinko islands A to
In E, when the ball storage amount becomes S2 or less, ball exchange between pachinko islands is not performed.

In the above-described receiving apparatus control process, the ball exchange is performed only between the adjacent pachinko islands. However, in this embodiment, when the sensor S2 is turned off, not only the adjacent pachinko islands but also the adjacent pachinko islands are used. Further, additional processing is performed in which ball exchange between the outer pachinko island and an adjacent pachinko island is also performed. As shown in FIG. 17A, for example, when the storage amount of the central pachinko island stand C becomes S2 or less, the shutters of the adjacent pachinko island stands B and D are opened as shown in FIG. At the same time as the balls are supplied to the pachinko islands C, the shutters of the pachinko islands A and E on the outside are also opened to open the pachinko islands A and E from the pachinko islands B and B.
D will be replenished with balls, so adjacent pachinko islands B and D
Pachinko Island B, D
The number of balls that are almost the same as the number of balls replenished to pachinko island stand C from pachinko island stand A, E are replenished to pachinko island stand B, D,
Therefore, as shown in FIG. 17 (B), it is the same as when the balls of the outermost pachinko islands A and E have been replenished to the central pachinko island stand C, and the respective pachinko islands A to E are obtained.
The amount of increase or decrease in the amount of stored balls can be reduced to achieve a uniform amount of storage, and a decrease or increase in the amount of storage can be quickly dealt with.

The phenomenon in which the amount of stored balls becomes the lower limit (below the sensor S2) frequently occurs when the number of balls held by the player increases, so that the above-described receiving device control processing and addition Processing is an important control in the ball exchange device.

By the way, by performing the above-described replenishing device control process, receiving device control process, and additional process, in many cases, the returning operation to the ball returning device 3 of all pachinko islands is prohibited. It is considered that there is no control, but in the event that it becomes more than the upper limit or less than the lower limit, it is necessary to perform control to allow or prohibit the return operation of the ball return device 3 on the own island or another island, Such control is performed according to a flowchart shown in FIG. Therefore,
The control of the counter (ball return device 3) in FIG. 18 will be described. First, in step 70, it is determined whether or not the upper limit sensor S5 has been turned ON (whether or not the upper limit has been reached), and it is determined that the upper limit has been reached. In step 71, after closing the counter of the own island in step 71, the timer is reset in step 72, and then the timer is started in step 73, and
At step 4, it is determined whether or not a predetermined time (for example, 10 minutes) has elapsed by the timer. When the predetermined time has elapsed, the counter is opened at step 75. On the other hand, when it is determined in step 70 that the upper limit sensor S5 is not ON,
This time, in step 76, it is determined whether or not the lower limit sensor S1 has been turned off (whether or not the lower limit has been reached). If it has been determined that the lower limit has been reached, the counter for the facing island is closed in step 77. After that, the timer is reset in step 78, and then the timer is started in step 79,
In step 80, a predetermined time (for example,
It is determined whether or not 10 minutes have elapsed, and when the predetermined time has elapsed, the counter of the facing island is opened in step 81.
Note that in both Step 70 and Step 76, "N
When it is determined as "O", the counter control is not performed.

The control described above (the control according to the first embodiment) moves the ball to the adjacent pachinko island when the upper limit is reached, and moves the ball from the adjacent pachinko island when the lower limit is reached. Although the control for receiving the request and driving the ball exchange device on the pachinko island stand on the outside thereof has been described, it is also possible to perform the control for monitoring the ball storage amounts of a plurality of pachinko island stands over a wider range. FIG. 1 shows such control (control according to the second embodiment).
This will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 19 is a side view showing the internal structure of the pachinko island stand 1 used for control according to the present embodiment, FIG. 20 is a main flow diagram showing control of the ball exchange device, and FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the upper limit priority control processing subroutine in a flowchart,
FIG. 22 is a flowchart showing the upper limit priority processing subroutine in the flowchart of the upper limit priority control processing subroutine. FIG. 23 is a table showing the state of the customer-attached flag used in the processing steps in FIG. FIG. 24 corresponds to FIG. 21 and FIG.
FIG. 25 is a table showing the correspondence between the customer service and the opening time used in the replaced processing step in FIG. 2, and FIG. 25 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a state corresponding to the upper limit priority control process; 26 is a flowchart showing a normal upper limit processing subroutine in the main flow chart, FIG. 27 is a flowchart showing a lower limit priority control processing subroutine in the main flow chart, and FIG. 28 is a flowchart showing the lower limit priority control processing subroutine. FIG. 29 is a flowchart showing a lower limit priority processing subroutine in the flowchart; FIG. 29 is a flowchart showing a feed data calculation processing subroutine in the lower limit priority processing subroutine; FIG. FIG. 31 and FIG. 32 are flowcharts showing a ball return processing subroutine in the main flowchart, and FIG. Is an explanatory view for explaining a state corresponding to the ball back process, FIG. 34 is a flowchart showing the normal lower limit processing subroutine in the main flow diagram, Figure 3
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the ball return device 3.

As shown in FIG. 19, in the pachinko island stand 1 in the control according to the second embodiment, as compared with the pachinko island stand 1 (FIG. 10) in the control in the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. The sensor S6 is provided on the upper limit side (therefore, the sensor S5 corresponds to the upper limit release sensor S5), and the opening and closing operation of the ball return device 3 of the own island is controlled by the sensor S6, and the own island and other islands are controlled by the sensors S1 to S5. The lower limit sensor S1 controls the opening / closing operation of the ball return devices 3 on other islands.
In the pachinko island stand 1 according to the second embodiment,
The reference ball storage amount at the start of business is set at a position slightly downstream of the sensor S4.

Among the operations controlled by the sensors S1 to S6, the ball AC device control is the same as that shown in FIG.
In step 90, it is determined whether or not there is an island in which the upper limit release sensor S5 is turned on. If it is determined that there is an island that is turned on, an upper limit priority control processing subroutine is executed in step 91. This upper limit priority control processing subroutine is shown in FIG.

In FIG. 21, the island for which it has been determined in step 90 that the sensor S5 has been turned on is determined in step 110,
For example, it is confirmed that the signal is from the island B, and thereafter, in step 111, the ball amount data of all the islands is extracted based on the presence or absence of the detection of the sensors S1 to S6, and the least island is searched in step 112 from the extracted data. To select one island. Thereafter, the island selected as the least island in step 113 is confirmed to be, for example, E island, and it is determined in step 114 whether or not the guest-attached flag of the confirmed E island is ON.
Is determined. As shown in FIG.
Is it ON at the rate of the number of customers playing on the island?
F is determined in advance, and in the case shown,
It is set to turn on when the attending rate is 10% or less, and to turn off when the rate is higher than 10%. In addition, the calculation of the attending rate is based on the total number of the pachinko machines 2 installed on the pachinko island stand as a denominator, and on the other hand, the pachinko machines in which the game is actually performed (detectable by the ON signal of the operation handle). It is calculated by taking numbers as numerators. Therefore, in step 114, the guest-attached flag of the island E is not ON (that is, the guest-attached on the island E exceeds 10%).
In this case, the upper-limit priority control processing subroutine ends without executing the processing of steps 115 and 116 described below. On the other hand, when it is determined in step 114 that the guest-attached flag is ON (that is, the guest-attachment is 10% or less in E island), in step 115, the most balls from the island B which has issued the ON signal from the sensor S5. The control of the islands other than the island E specified as the island with the small storage amount is controlled by a subroutine that executes processing equivalent to steps 92 to 100 of the main routine.
6 is executed. The reason why the upper limit priority processing is not executed when the customer is high is that the amount of balls returned afterwards is expected to be large when the guest is high, so that the number of balls returned from pachinko island stand B, which has reached the upper limit, is high. This is to prevent unnecessary movement of the ball by not moving the ball.

The upper limit priority processing in step 116 is performed by
As shown in (1), first, at step 120, both shutters of each island from B island to E island are closed, and then at step 121, only the shutter on the E island side of each island of B island to E island is opened. As a result, the ball of island B is moved to island C, the ball of island C is moved to island D, and the ball of island D is moved to island E,
Since the number of moving balls per unit time is almost the same (3,000 pieces / min), it is the same as moving balls from island B to island E after all. When the shutter is opened, the sensor S4 of the island B is turned off in step 122.
It continues until it becomes F or the sensor S4 of the E island is turned on. When such a determination is made, both shutters of each island from the B island to the E island are closed in step 123. The upper-limit priority processing and the upper-limit priority control processing are terminated.

The above-described upper limit priority control process will be described with reference to FIG. 25 which illustrates actual storage amounts of a plurality of pachinko islands 1 (in the case of five rows A to E).
As shown in (A), the shutter on the E island side from the island B determined to have reached the upper limit after the sensor S5 has been turned ON to the island E determined to have the least amount of storage is opened and indicated by an arrow. Thus, the ball on island B is moved to island C, the ball on island C is moved to island D, and the ball on island D is moved to island E. And B
When the island sensor S4 is turned off, the shutter that has been opened closes and stops moving the ball.
As shown in FIG. 25 (B), it is natural that the storage amount of the ball on each island up to the island is decreased on the island B and increased on the island E, but is stored on the intermediate islands C and D. There is no change in quantity. That is,
This means that the ball has moved from Island B to Island E. As described above, in the upper limit priority control process, since the ball storage amount can be moved from the pachinko island stand 1 (B) in which the ball storage amount has reached the upper limit to the pachinko island stand 1 (E) having the smallest ball amount, the storage amount decrease. -It is possible to quickly respond to the increase, and as a result, it is possible to shorten the time during which the return to the entire ball returning device 3 is prohibited.

In the above control, step 116
Is determined by the ON / OFF state of the guest-attached flag as a condition for executing the upper-limit priority process, but the upper-limit priority process is performed only for a predetermined period of time corresponding to the customer-attachment rate of the island (E) on the sending side. May be executed. In particular,
As shown in FIG. 24, assuming that a maximum of 30,000 units are supplied,
If the customer rate is 10% or less, the maximum number (30,000)
If the attending rate is no less than 49%, send 60% of the maximum number. If the attending rate is 50% or more and 79% or less, send 30% of the maximum number. Rate 8
If it is 0% or more, it is set not to send at all. In the case of the ball feed amount as described above, the number of balls sent by opening one stopper device 61 (shutter) is 300.
Since it is 0 pieces / minute, the opening time corresponding to each customer attending rate is 10 minutes, 6 minutes, 3 minutes, and 0 minutes.

When the island E is confirmed in step 113 of FIG. 21, the shutter opening time is calculated in step 117 instead of step 114 based on the table in FIG. 24, and then steps 115 and 116 are executed. I do. Then, in the upper limit control process, the upper limit control process is executed by substituting the determination process of step 124 for determining whether the opening time of the island B has elapsed or the sensor S4 of the island E has been turned on instead of step 122. Things. In this way, the amount of movement of the ball from the pachinko island stand B that has reached the upper limit to the pachinko island stand E specified as having the least amount of balls is controlled by the time according to the arrival to the specified pachinko island stand E. This makes it possible to precisely control the predicted value of the ball to be returned to the specified pachinko island stand E, thereby preventing useless exchange of the ball.

Returning to FIG. 20, in step 90, the sensor S
If it is determined that there is no island that has turned ON, it is determined in step 92 whether there is an island that has turned ON the sensor S4 (a storage amount larger than the reference storage amount). , A normal upper limit process of step 93 is executed. This normal upper limit process is shown in FIG. That is, the replenishment flag of the island for which the sensor S4 has been turned on is turned on in step 130, and then the replenishment device control processing subroutine is executed in step 131. The replenishing device control processing is exactly the same as the processing procedure shown in FIG. 12 described above, and a description thereof will be omitted. Thus, while the replenishing device control processing in step 131 is being executed, it is determined in step 132 whether or not the sensor S4 has been turned OFF.
After returning to 0, steps 130 to 132 are repeated, and when it is determined that the sensor S4 has been turned off, the timer is reset in step 133, and then in step 134
, A timer for a fixed time (3 minutes in the present embodiment) is set, and the time set by the timer (3 minutes) is set.
In step 135, the same supply device control processing as in step 131 is executed until “minute” has elapsed.
After it is determined that the minutes have elapsed, the supply flag is turned off in step 137, and both the shutters in the own island are closed in step 138, and the processing when the storage amount reaches the upper limit is ended.

By the operation realized by the processing of steps 130 to 138, the shutter is driven to be opened from the time when the detection output from the sensor S4 is no longer derived until a predetermined time elapses. ,
A sensor S for detecting the amount of storage at the end of the shutter opening operation
4 can be located on the upstream side (small storage amount side), and it is possible to have some time allowance before the operation of the sensor S4 again. As much as possible, the return of the prize ball by the player can be performed smoothly, and the service can be improved.

Returning to FIG. 20, at step 92, the sensor S
If it is determined that there is no island that has turned ON, it is determined in step 94 whether or not there is an island whose sensor S3 has turned ON. Since the sensor S3 detects an amount slightly larger than the median value of the stored ball amount of the pachinko island stand 1, there is no problem in continuing normal business, so it is determined that there is an island where the sensor S3 is ON. If so, step 95
It is determined whether or not feed data is stored in the island, and when the feed data is stored,
At 6, the ball return process is executed. The ball return processing and the feed data will be described later in detail, but the sensor S3 is turned on.
This is a process of returning the same ball quantity as the received ball when the received island has received a ball in the lower limit priority control process in the past. Therefore, the ball return process will be described in detail after the lower limit priority control process is described.

Returning to FIG. 20, in step 94, the sensor S
When it is determined that there is no island 3 turned on, it is determined in step 97 whether or not there is an island (an island below the lower limit) where the sensor S1 (lower limit sensor) is turned off.
Is determined to be OFF, a lower limit priority control process of step 98 is executed. This lower limit priority control processing subroutine is as shown in FIG.

In FIG. 27, the island for which it has been determined in step 97 that the sensor S1 has been turned off is identified in step 140.
Then, for example, it is confirmed that the signal is from the island A. Then, in step 141, the ball amount data of all the islands is detected by the sensors S1 to S1.
It is extracted based on the presence or absence of the detection of S6, and it is determined in step 142 whether or not there is an island other than the island A and the sensor S2 is ON from the extracted data, and there is no island where the sensor S2 is ON. Is determined (the amount of stored balls on other islands is also small), the lower-limit priority control processing subroutine ends without executing the following processing. On the other hand, if it is determined that there is an island for which the sensor S2 has been turned ON, the process proceeds to step S14.
In step 3, it is determined whether or not the number of islands for which the sensor S2 has been turned ON is only one. If not, the one island closest to the island A is selected in step 144; Check one. For example, if it is confirmed that the island is the island C, the control of the island other than the island C which is specified as the closest island having the storage amount equal to or more than the sensor S2 from the island A which has issued the OFF signal from the sensor S1 in step 146 is performed. , Is controlled by a subroutine that executes processing equivalent to steps 92 to 100 of the main routine, and the lower limit priority processing of step 147 is executed for islands A to C.

The lower-priority processing of step 147 is the same as that of FIG.
As shown in (1), first, after resetting the timer for timekeeping in step 150, timekeeping is started in step 151, and then after closing both shutters of each island from island A to island C in step 152, In step 153, only the shutter on the A island side of each of the A island to C island is opened. As a result, the ball on the island C is moved to the island B, and the ball on the island B is moved to the island A. Since the number of balls moved per unit time is almost the same (3,000 pieces / min), In the end, it is the same as moving the ball from Island C to Island A. Then, the opening of the shutter is performed by turning on the sensor S2 of the island A in step 154 or by turning the sensor S2 of the island C off.
F. If such a determination is made, both shutters on each of the islands A to C are closed in step 155.
At 6, the time measurement is ended, and at step 157, the sending data calculation processing subroutine is executed to end the lower limit priority processing and the lower limit priority control processing.

As shown in FIG. 29, in the above-described feed data calculation processing in step 157, the time T measured by the processing in steps 151 to 156 is stored in step 160, and data of all islands is extracted in step 161. Thereafter, in step 162, it is determined whether or not the lower limit priority process from island C to island A is the first time. If it is the first time, counter n is set to "1" in step 163; At step 164, the value of “n + 1” is set to the counter n, and then, at step 165, the time stored at step 60 as the time data of TCA (n) is set,
At step 166, TCA (n) is used as time data of island A.
Is stored, and the stored TCA (n) is stored in step 167.
Is calculated as W (CA). Then, step 16
Conversely, it is determined in step 8 whether or not lower limit priority processing has been performed from island A to island C, and if so, in step 169, W (CA) and W (A
C) is compared, the smaller value is subtracted from the larger value in steps 170 and 172, and a positive value is sent to the data sum W (CA) or W (AC) in step 171,
173 is stored. The feed data calculated in this manner is used in the ball return process (step 96) described later in detail.

The lower limit priority control process will be described with reference to FIG. 30 which illustrates actual storage amounts of a plurality of pachinko islands 1 (in the case of five rows A to E).
As shown in (A), the shutter on the A island side from the island A determined to have reached the lower limit after the sensor S1 is turned off to the island C determined to have a storage amount equal to or greater than the sensor S2 is opened. As indicated by the arrow, the ball on island C is moved to island B,
The island ball is moved to Island A. And the sensor S2 on the C island
When is turned off, the shutter that has been opened closes and stops the movement of the ball. At that time, the storage amount of the ball on each of the islands from the island A to the island C is, as shown in FIG. It is natural that the island A has increased due to the decrease, but the storage amount of the island B in the middle has not changed. That is, the ball has moved from the island C to the island A. As described above, the lower-limit priority control process is performed in the pachinko island stand 1 having the storage amount equal to or more than the predetermined amount.
Pachinko island stand 1 whose ball storage amount has reached the lower limit from (C)
Since the balls can be moved to (A), it is possible to quickly respond to a decrease or increase in the stored amount, and as a result, it is possible to shorten the time during which the return to the entire ball returning device 3 is prohibited.

Here, the ball return processing in step 96 will be described with reference to FIGS. 31 to 33.
In step 180, the sending data of the island for which the sensor S3 is turned on is extracted, and the oldest data is retrieved from the extracted data. , D, etc.), the receiving island and the sending island are confirmed from the sending data in step 182 based on the search result.
At 83, the receiving side is determined as the island C, and at step 184, the transmitting side is determined as the island A. Thereafter, step 18 shown in FIG.
After closing both shutters of each island from C island to A island at 5, the shutter of the A island side of each island from C island to A island is opened at step 186, and the opening operation is sent to W which is the data time. The process is continued until it is determined in step 187 that (CA) has elapsed. If it is determined that the feed data time has elapsed, then in step 188, the A
After closing both shutters to the island, step 18
In step 9, the data W (CA) and all TCAs are deleted, and the ball return processing subroutine ends.

FIG. 33A illustrates the above-mentioned ball returning process with reference to FIG. 33 which illustrates actual storage amounts of a plurality of pachinko islands 1 (in the case of five rows A to E). As described above, the shutter on the island A from the island A determined to be the sending side to the island C determined to be the receiving side when the sensor S3 is turned on is opened, and the ball of the island A is moved to the island B as indicated by the arrow. And the ball on island B is moved to island C. Then, when the feed data time elapses, the shutter that has been opened closes and stops the movement of the balls. At that time, the storage amount of the balls on each of the islands from Island A to Island C is as shown in FIG. In addition, although it is natural that the number of the islands A is decreasing and the number of the islands C is increasing, the storage amount of the intermediate island B does not change. That is, the ball has moved from the island A to the island C. As described above, in the ball returning process, in the pachinko island stand A which first reached the lower limit, the ball storage amount is recovered by the moved ball because the stored ball alone is not enough, but the final ball is returned by the customer's returned ball. There is a possibility of storing more than the initial ball storage amount, and when the storage amount returns to the predetermined value, by returning the number of balls replenished during business to the replenished pachinko island stand C, all The amount of storage in Pachinko Island can be quickly equalized with the initial value.

Returning to FIG. 20, in step 97, S1 becomes O
If it is determined that there is no FF island, step 99
It is determined whether or not there is an island for which S2 has been turned off (whether or not there is an island approaching the lower limit). If there is an island for which the sensor S2 has been turned off, the normal lower limit processing of step 100 is executed. This normal lower limit processing is shown in FIG. That is, in step 190, the receiving flag of the island for which the sensor S2 has been turned off is turned on, and then in step 191 the receiving device control processing subroutine is executed. This receiving device control processing is exactly the same as the processing procedure shown in FIG. 13 described above, and a description thereof will be omitted here. Thus, it is determined in step 192 whether or not the sensor S2 has been turned on while the receiving device control processing in step 191 is being executed.
And the steps 190 to 192 are repeated, and the sensor S
If it is determined that No. 2 has been turned on, step 19
After the timer is reset in step 3, the timer for a fixed time (3 minutes in this embodiment) is set in step 194, and step 191 and step 191 are performed in step 195 until the time (3 minutes) set by the timer elapses. The same receiving device control processing is executed, and after it is determined that three minutes have passed in step 196, the receiving flag is turned off in step 197, and in step 198, the shutters (stopper device 61) on both adjacent islands facing the own island. Is closed to terminate the processing when the storage amount approaches the lower limit.

By the operation realized by the processing of steps 190 to 198, the shutter is driven to be opened from the time when the detection output from the sensor S2 is no longer derived until a predetermined time elapses. ,
A sensor S for detecting the amount of storage at the end of the shutter opening operation
2 can be positioned on the downstream side (large storage amount side), and it is possible to have some time allowance before the sensor S2 is operated again. For example, the return prevention of the facing ball return device 3 is prevented. The time can be reduced as much as possible, and the prize ball can be smoothly returned by the player, so that the service can be improved.

By performing the above-described upper-limit priority control processing, normal upper-limit processing, ball return processing, lower-limit priority control processing, and normal lower-limit processing, in many cases, the ball return apparatus 3 of all pachinko islands is returned. It is considered that the return operation is not prohibited. However, if the return operation becomes equal to or more than the upper limit or the lower limit, control to allow or prohibit the return operation of the ball return device 3 on the own island or another island. Is performed, and such control is performed according to a flowchart shown in FIG. Therefore, the control of the counter (ball return device 3) in FIG. 35 will be described. First, in step 200, it is determined whether or not the upper limit sensor S6 has been turned on (whether or not the upper limit has been reached). When it is determined,
After closing the counter of the own island in step 201, step 2
02, the timer is reset, and then in step 203
, A timer is started. In step 204, it is determined whether or not a predetermined time (for example, 10 minutes) by the timer has elapsed. When the predetermined time has elapsed, the counter is opened in step 205. On the other hand, in step 200, the upper limit sensor S
If it is determined that the lower limit sensor 6 has not been turned on, then it is determined in step 206 whether the lower limit sensor S1 has been turned off (whether the lower limit has been reached) or not. , After closing the counter on the facing island in step 207, reset the timer in step 208, and then start the timer in step 209,
In step 210, it is determined whether or not a predetermined time (for example, 10 minutes) has elapsed by the timer. When the predetermined time has elapsed, the counter of the facing island is opened in step 211. Note that when it is determined “NO” in both Step 200 and Step 206, the counter control is not performed.

In the above, two control methods have been described for the control of the ball AC device to be passed between the pachinko islands 1. In the above control, the pachinko islands A to E are exemplified. In many amusement arcades, it is usual to have more pachinko islands than the above, and in such a case, all the pachinko islands are configured to have an AC relationship and the above-described control is performed. Alternatively, the above-described control may be performed for each block by forming an AC relationship by dividing the block into a plurality of blocks.

[0083]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, in the ball exchange device between pachinko islands that exchanges balls according to each ball storage amount of a plurality of pachinko island stands, the ball storage amount of one pachinko island stand is provided. When the ball reaches the lower limit, the ball is supplied from the adjacent pachinko island through the ball exchange device, and the ball is also supplied to the adjacent pachinko island from the outer pachinko island via the ball exchange device. The pachinko island that is adjacent to the pachinko island where the ball storage amount has reached the lower limit is also replenished with balls from the outer pachinko island, so the ball storage of each pachinko island The amount of increase or decrease of the amount can be reduced to make the amount of storage even, and it is possible to respond quickly to the decrease or increase of the amount of storage, and as a result, the time to prohibit the return to the entire ball return device is shortened be able to.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, in the ball exchange device between pachinko islands that exchanges balls according to the amount of each ball stored on a plurality of pachinko islands, the ball storage amount of one pachinko island can be obtained. When the upper limit is reached, the pachinko island that has the least amount of stored balls is identified from the plurality of pachinko islands in an exchange relationship, and the ball is moved from the pachinko island that has reached the upper limit to the identified pachinko island. Since the ball exchange device of the pachinko island stand in the meantime was controlled to move, it is possible to move from the pachinko island stand where the ball storage amount has reached the upper limit to the pachinko island stand with the smallest ball amount, so that each pachinko The amount of increase or decrease in the amount of stored balls at Shimadai can be reduced to achieve an even amount of storage, and it is possible to respond quickly to a decrease or increase in the amount of storage, resulting in a prohibition of returning to the entire ball return device. Shorten the time to Rukoto can.

Further, in the invention according to claim 3, the pachinko machine specified from the pachinko machine that has reached the upper limit when the customer attendance rate at the specified pachinko machine is higher than a predetermined value. By configuring so that the movement control of the ball to the island is not executed, even if the pachinko island has been identified as having the least amount of stored balls, the higher the number of customers, the greater the amount of balls returned afterwards. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the ball from being moved from the pachinko island that has reached the upper limit, thereby preventing unnecessary exchange of the ball.

[0086] In the invention according to claim 4, the pachinko island that has reached the upper limit for a predetermined time according to the attendance rate of players on the specified pachinko island from the pachinko island that has been specified. By performing the movement control of the ball, the movement of the ball to the pachinko island that is identified as having the least amount of stored balls is determined according to the predicted value of the ball to be returned to the pachinko island that is expected thereafter. Fine control can be performed, and useless exchange of balls can be prevented.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the ball exchange device between pachinko islands for exchanging balls in accordance with the amount of balls stored on each of a plurality of pachinko islands, the ball storage amount of one pachinko island is provided. When the lower limit is reached, the closest pachinko island out of the plurality of pachinko islands that have a predetermined ball storage amount is specified from the plurality of pachinko islands in an exchange relationship, and the specified pachinko island is reduced to the lower limit. By controlling the ball exchange device of the pachinko island stand in the middle so that the ball moves to the reached pachinko island stand, the pachinko machine whose ball storage amount has reached the lower limit from the pachinko island stand having a storage amount equal to or more than a predetermined amount Since it can be moved to the island, the amount of ball storage in each pachinko island can be reduced and increased to achieve an even amount of storage, and it is possible to respond quickly to a decrease or increase in the amount of storage, as a result It is possible to shorten the time for prohibiting the return of the body ball return devices.

In the invention of claim 6, when the ball exchange device of the pachinko island stand in the middle is controlled so that the ball moves from the specified pachinko island stand to the pachinko island stand reaching the lower limit. The moved ball amount is calculated and stored, and when the ball storage amount of the pachinko island that has reached the lower limit has returned to the predetermined ball storage amount, the pachinko island specified from the pachinko island that has reached the lower limit. By controlling the ball exchange device of the pachinko island stand in the middle so as to move the number of balls calculated and stored to the stand, the pachinko island stand that first reached the lower limit is not enough with its own storage ball alone. The ball storage amount is recovered by the exchanged ball moved without it, but there is a possibility that the ball returned by the customer may eventually store more than the initial ball storage amount, and in order to prevent this, the storage amount is set in advance. The number of balls supplemented during business when waking by returning to the pachinko Isle of Eternal Youth supplemented, can be equalized with early initial value storage amount of all pachinko Isle of Eternal Youth to.

Further, in the invention according to claim 7, the ball exchange device comprises: an AC tank for storing balls discharged by the ball lifting device erected on the pachinko island stand; An AC upper gutter sloping toward the center at the upper portion between the AC upper gutters, and a ball passing through the lower center of the AC upper gutter and passing through the lower portion between the adjacent AC tanks in a cross shape. An AC lower gutter, the upper center of which is connected and abutted so as to be guided, and a closed state which is provided at a connection portion between the AC tank and the AC upper gutter and prevents a ball from flowing into the AC upper gutter. And a stopper device that is driven to an allowable open state. The control of the ball AC device is characterized by controlling the opening and closing of the stopper device. With this configuration, the movement of the AC balls can be performed under the natural flow, so that the number of the AC balls per unit time can be increased.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a relationship between a plurality of pachinko island platforms.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the internal structure of one pachinko island stand 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a relationship between an upper tank and an AC tank.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an internal structure of an upper tank.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the internal structure of the AC tank.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the flow of balls in the upper tank and the AC tank.

FIG. 7 is a side sectional view showing a relationship between an AC tank, an AC upper gutter, and an AC lower arch gutter.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of an intersection between an AC upper gutter and an AC lower arch gutter.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a pachinko island stand showing another embodiment of the ball exchange device.

FIG. 10 is a side view showing the internal structure of the pachinko island stand showing the positions of sensors for controlling the stopper device and the ball return device of the ball AC device by the first control method.

FIG. 11 is a main flowchart showing control of the ball exchange device by the first control method.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a replenishing device control processing subroutine in the main flowchart.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a receiving device control processing subroutine in the main flowchart.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing an additional processing subroutine in the main flowchart.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram for describing a state corresponding to a supply device control process.

FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram for describing a state corresponding to a receiving device control process.

FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram for describing a state corresponding to an impossible process.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing the operation of the ball return device.

FIG. 19 is a side view showing the internal structure of the pachinko island stand used in the second control method.

FIG. 20 is a main flowchart showing control of the ball exchange device by the second control method.

FIG. 21 is a flowchart showing an upper limit priority control processing subroutine in the main flowchart.

FIG. 22 is a flowchart showing an upper limit priority processing subroutine in the flowchart of the upper limit priority control processing subroutine.

FIG. 23 is a table showing the state of a customer-attached flag used in the processing steps in FIG. 21;

FIG. 24 is a table showing the correspondence between the customer attendance and the opening time used in the replaced processing steps in FIGS. 21 and 22.

FIG. 25 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a state corresponding to an upper limit priority control process.

FIG. 26 is a flowchart showing a normal upper limit processing subroutine in the main flowchart.

FIG. 27 is a flowchart showing a lower limit priority control processing subroutine in the main flowchart.

FIG. 28 is a flowchart showing a lower limit priority processing subroutine in the flowchart of the lower limit priority control processing subroutine.

FIG. 29 is a flowchart showing a feed data operation processing subroutine in the flowchart of the lower limit priority processing subroutine.

FIG. 30 is an explanatory diagram for describing a state corresponding to a lower limit priority control process.

FIG. 31 is a flowchart showing a ball return processing subroutine in the main flowchart.

FIG. 32 is a continuation of the flowchart in FIG. 31;

FIG. 33 is an explanatory diagram for describing a state corresponding to the ball returning process.

FIG. 34 is a flowchart showing a normal lower limit processing subroutine in the main flowchart.

FIG. 35 is a flowchart showing the operation of the ball return device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Pachinko island stand 5 Drifting device 6 Upper tank 7 AC tank 11 Priority storage tank 12 Non-priority storage tank 61 Stopper device (shutter) 70 AC upper gutter 71 AC lower arch gutter 73 AC lower opening 74 AC upper opening S1 to S6 Ball amount detection sensor

Claims (7)

[Claims] Claims 1. In a ball exchange device between pachinko islands that exchanges balls according to the amount of balls stored on a plurality of pachinko islands, when the amount of balls stored on one pachinko island reaches a lower limit, A pachinko island characterized by controlling the ball exchange device so as to receive replenishment of balls from an adjacent pachinko island, and further to replenish balls to an adjacent pachinko island from the outside pachinko island. A ball exchange device between units. 2. A ball exchange device between pachinko islands that exchanges balls according to the amount of balls stored on a plurality of pachinko islands, wherein when a ball storage amount of one pachinko island reaches an upper limit, Identify the pachinko island with the least amount of stored balls from the plurality of pachinko islands in the exchange relationship, and the pachinko between the pachinko islands so that the ball moves from the pachinko island that has reached the upper limit to the identified pachinko island. A ball interchange device between pachinko islands, wherein the ball interchange device of the island is controlled. 3. The movement control of the ball from the pachinko island that has reached the upper limit to the identified pachinko island when the attendance rate of the player on the identified pachinko island is higher than a predetermined value. 3. The ball exchange device according to claim 2, wherein the step is not performed. 4. A movement control of the ball from the pachinko island that has reached the upper limit to the specified pachinko island for a predetermined time according to a customer attendance rate on the specified pachinko island. The ball exchange device according to claim 2, wherein 5. A ball exchange device between pachinko islands that exchanges balls according to the amount of balls stored on a plurality of pachinko islands, wherein when a ball storage amount of one pachinko island reaches a lower limit, From the multiple pachinko islands in the exchange relationship, identify the closest pachinko island out of the pachinko islands with a predetermined ball storage amount or more, and from the identified pachinko islands to the pachinko islands that have reached the lower limit. A ball interchange device between pachinko islands, wherein the ball interchange device of the pachinko island stand is controlled to move. 6. The ball amount that has been moved when the ball exchange device of the pachinko island stand between them is controlled so that the ball moves from the specified pachinko island stand to the pachinko island stand that has reached the lower limit. In addition, when the ball storage amount of the pachinko island that has reached the lower limit has returned to the predetermined ball storage amount, the number of balls calculated and stored in the specified pachinko island from the pachinko island that has reached the lower limit is calculated. 6. The ball interchange device between pachinko islands according to claim 5, wherein the ball interchange device of the pachinko island stand is controlled to move. 7. The ball exchange device includes: an AC tank for storing balls discharged by a ball lifting device erected on the pachinko island stand; An AC upper gutter inserted in an inclined manner, and an upper center of the AC upper gutter so as to be guided in a cross shape and to be guided in a cross shape at a lower center of the AC upper gutter while being passed to a lower portion between the adjacent AC tanks. Are connected and contacted with each other, and are driven to a closed state and an open state that are provided at a connection portion between the AC tank and the AC upper gutter and that prevent a ball from flowing into the AC upper gutter. The ball exchange device between pachinko islands according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the control of the ball exchange device is performed by controlling opening and closing of the stopper device.