Game machine island

A game machine island comprising ball lending machines each disposed between two adjoining game machines and ball lending machines of the same type arranged at the ends of the line of the game machines, respectively. A drive unit and a driven unit have introducing paths communicating with bank note discharging slots of the ball lending machines arranged at the ends of the island, respectively, for directly introducing bank notes discharged from the ball lending machines to the conveying belt. In the construction of the island, the installation and the wiring is carried out efficiently, and the workability of the installation can be enhanced, and the cost can be reduced.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to a game machine island having a bank note 
conveying apparatus which conveys bank notes at the rear side of the 
island. The game machine island is arranged so that a plurality of game 
machines extend side by side, to right and left sides, so as to form a 
line of game machines, 
DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART 
A conventional game machine island is as shown in FIGS. 9, 10A and 10B. 
As shown in FIG. 9, the game machine island 1 comprises a plurality of 
pachinko machines 2 arranged side by side. A conveying apparatus 3 is 
provided, behind a line of pachinko machines 2a. A ball lending machine 4 
is disposed between each adjoining pachinko machines and another type of 
ball lending machines 5 are arranged at ends of the line of pachinko 
machines 2a, respectively. 
The conveying apparatus 3 comprises: a drive pulley 3a, provided at one end 
of the line of pachinko machines 2a; a driven pulley 3b, provided at the 
other end of the line of pachinko machines 2a; a conveying belt 3c placed 
over the drive pulley 3a and the driven pulley 3b; and a conveying path 
formed along a tension side of the belt 3c. 
In order to pass a bank note through a discharging slot of the ball lending 
machine 4 to the conveying path, an introducing unit for the introduction 
of the bank notes (not shown) should be provided between the ball lending 
machine 4 and the conveying path. But there is no space for providing the 
introducing unit at both ends of the line of pachinko machines 2a. The 
ball lending machine 4 cannot be provided for the use of a bank note. So, 
at the end of the line of pachinko machines 2a, the ball lending machine 
4, as shown in FIG. 10A, cannot be provided for both coin and bank notes, 
and only coin operated ball lending machines 5 exists, as shown in FIG. 
10B. 
In the conventional game island 1, two types of ball lending machines are 
used, one type between the pachinko machines 2 and another at the ends of 
the pachinko island. As a result, the construction and the wirings 
suitable for two types of ball lending machines are required. Thereby, 
installation is troublesome, takes longer time, and becomes expensive. 
Further, when a player sits at the end of the pachinko island, he cannot 
use bank notes for the ball lending machine 5. However, the machine may be 
used incorrectly or inadvertently by inserting bank notes into a coin only 
operated ball lending machine 5. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention is made in view of the problems involved in the 
conventional game machines. The object of the invention is a game machine 
island with efficient installation and wiring thereby enhancing ease of 
construction, reducing the cost of construction and eliminating incorrect 
machine usage where the player is no longer able to insert bank notes into 
the coin only operated ball lending machine. 
In order to accomplish the above mentioned object, the present invention 
provides a game machine island with a plurality of game machines arranged 
side by side, and a bank note conveying device provided behind a line of 
game machines, for conveying a bank note into a main conveying direction. 
The game machine island includes a bank note conveying device comprising a 
drive unit having a drive pulley provided at one end of the line of game 
machines, a driven unit having a driven pulley provided at the other end 
of the line of game machines and a conveying belt placed over the drive 
pulley and the driven pulley and being circulated in the main conveying 
direction; a ball lending machine which allows the use of bank notes 
disposed between each game machine and at least at one of the ends of the 
line of game machines; and an introducing path provided at the drive unit 
and/or the driven unit in accordance with the installation of the ball 
lending machine provided at at least one of the ends of the line of game 
machines, thereby allowing a bank note discharged from the nearby ball 
lending machine to travel to the belt. 
At both ends of the line of the game machines, plates may be provided. On 
the plate, installing brackets may be fixed for adjustably supporting the 
drive unit or the driven unit which is slidably mounted on the installing 
brackets. The drive unit and/or the driven unit is slidably mounted on the 
installing brackets. A connecting guide is provided for adjusting the 
position of an inlet of an introducing path, so that it is in accord with 
the position of the discharging slot of the ball lending machine. 
When the game machine island is constructed, the ball lending machines 
which allow the use of bank notes are each disposed between any adjoining 
two game machines in line. The same type of ball lending machine may be 
disposed at least at one of the ends of the line of game machines if 
necessary. The ease of construction and the wiring construction are 
enhanced, because the same type of ball lending machines are disposed 
between game machines and at the end of the line of the game machines. 
At the rear of the line of game machines, a bank note conveying device is 
provided for conveying bank notes inserted in each of the ball lending 
machines to the main conveying direction. When constructing the bank note 
conveying device, first, a drive unit having a drive pulley is provided at 
one end of the line of game machines and a driven unit having a driven 
pulley is provided at the other end. 
A belt is placed over the drive pulley and the driven pulley, circulating 
in a conveying direction along a main conveying path. A means for 
transporting the bank note discharged from the ball lending machine to the 
conveying path is needed in order to convey the bank note discharged from 
the ball lending machine in the main conveying direction while letting the 
bank note contact the belt. 
The rear of each game machine-has a space between the discharging slot of 
the ball lending machine disposed between the game machines and the main 
conveying path where the belt runs. In this space, a special unit can be 
inserted for transporting a bank note discharged from the ball lending 
machine to the conveying path. 
At the end of the line of the game machines there is no space for provision 
of the special unit. Therefore, the discharging slot of the ball lending 
machine is communicated with the introducing path provided at the drive 
unit or the driven unit near the bank note discharging slot. In this 
construction, without providing a special unit, a bank note discharged 
from the ball lending machine arranged at the end of the island where 
there is little space is transported directly to the conveying belt in the 
conveying direction. 
Further, in the game machine island, the plates forming the end portion of 
the island at both ends of the line of game machines are provided. The 
installing brackets may be fixed on each of the plates for supporting the 
drive unit or the driven unit, allowing adjustment in the main conveying 
direction. 
In the present invention, the connecting guide is provided at the unit 
provided at least one end of the line of the game machines The connecting 
guide is slidably fitted onto the installing brackets to adjust the 
position of the entrance of the introducing path of the unit so as to 
communicate with the discharging slot of the ball lending machine. In such 
a manner, the drive unit and/or the driven unit can change their position 
easily to their optimum position where the bank note may be directly 
introduced from the discharging slot of the ball lending machine at the 
end of the island, to the belt,

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to 
the drawings. 
FIGS. 1 to 8 show one embodiment of the present invention. 
As shown in FIG. 2, a game machine island 10 is formed by a line of game 
machines 11a, in which the game machines 11 are arranged side by side in 
line. In the line of game machines 11a, ball lending machines 20 are each 
disposed between game machines 11, respectively. At both ends of the line 
of game machines 11a, the same type of the ball lending machines 20 are 
arranged. 
The game machines 11 and the ball lending machines 20 are provided on upper 
surface of a top board 15 fixed on the top end of a skirt board 14 
provided at a lower portion of the island. On a floor of a game parlor, 
plates 12 are arranged to stand by holding brackets 13. The skirt board 14 
and the top board 15 are provided at the lower portion between tile plates 
12. On the upper portion between the plates 12, a curtain board 16 is 
mounted installing display lamps 35 each corresponding to the game 
machines 11, respectively. 
At the upper portion behind the line of game machines 11a, a bank note 
conveying device 30 is provided. The bank note. conveying device 30 
receives a bank note discharged from the ball lending machine 20, conveys 
the bank note along a bank note conveying line (a main conveying path) and 
collects the bank note into a bank note collecting device 17 fixed at one 
of the plates 12. Under the bank note collecting device 17, a coin 
collecting device 19 is also fixed to the same plate 12. Along the lower 
portion behind the line of game machines 11a, a coin conveying line 18 is 
provided for sending coin discharged from the ball lending machines 20 to 
the coin collecting device 19. 
The ball lending machine 20 is formed in a rectangular shape, as shown in 
FIG. 3. On the upper portion of a front face 20a of the machine 20, there 
is a bank note/coin insert slot 21, and the lower portion of the front 
face 20a has a ball pot 22 and a coin repayment pot 23. Inside the bank 
note/coin insert slot 21, a bank note identifying machine 24 having a bank 
note examining unit is provided, A bank note discharging slot 25 opens on 
the back face of the bank note identifying machine 24. 
As shown in FIG. 2, the bank note conveying device 30 has a drive pulley 41 
provided at one end of the line of game machines 11a, a driven pulley 51 
provided at the other end of the line of the game machines 11a, a round 
belt 30a is placed over the drive pulley 41 and the driven pulley 51 for 
circulating and conveying a bank note. A tension side (the upper side of 
1he belt between pulleys 41 and 51) of the belt 30a extends along the bank 
note collecting line. 
As shown in FIG. 1, at one end of the bank note collecting line, a drive 
unit 40 having a drive pulley 41 for circulating the round belt 30a is 
provided. The drive unit 40 comprises a drive unit installing frame 40a 
fixed to the plate 12, an electric motor 42 provided on the drive unit 
installing frame 40a and the drive pulley 41 driven by the electric motor 
42 via a transmission mechanism. The drive pulley 41 is placed in a pulley 
installing unit 40c which is at the lower portion of the drive unit 
installing frame 40a. 
As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the drive unit 40 is formed and structured as 
shown. At both upper and lower ends of a wall 40b of the drive unit 
installing frame 40a, connecting guides 46 are provided. The connecting 
guides are slidably mounted and positioned so that they may be adjusted in 
a longitudinal direction in installing brackets 55, 56 (shown in FIG. 6) 
fixed on the plate 12. The positioning of the installing brackets 55, 56 
and the drive unit installing frame 40a can be adjusted with respect to 
the plate 12. 
On the wall 40b of the drive unit installing frame 40a, an introducing path 
assembly 47 is communicated with the bank note discharging slot 25 (shown 
in FIG. 3) of the ball lending machine 20 arranged at the left end of the 
line of game machines 11a in FIG. 2, for directly introducing the 
discharged bank note to the round belt 30a. 
As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the introducing path assembly 47 has a 
funnel-shaped bank note introducing path 48 (rectangular in section 
extending vertically). The path 48 is formed by an opening whose width is 
reduced along the passage, and shaped to curve from the front to the rear 
of the introducing path assembly 47 so as to gradually direct to the main 
conveying direction. At a part of a rim of the exit of the bank note 
introducing path 48 which opens on the back face of the introducing path 
assembly 47, there is a guide board 49 for transporting a bank note from 
the bank note introducing path 48 to the round belt 30a. One end of the 
main conveying path is constructed by the guide board 49 and the drive 
unit installing frame 40a. 
At the lower portion of the drive pulley 41, as shown in FIG. 1, there is a 
bias pulley 43 supported pivotally at one end of an L-shaped arm assembly 
44. The drive pulley 41 and the bias pulley 43 rotatably hold the round 
belt 30a, and the bias pulley 43 presses the round belts 30a against the 
drive pulley 41. 
The arm assembly 44 is supported pivotally at almost the center of the 
L-shaped body. The arm assembly 44 is biased by a coil 44b connected to 
the other end of the the arm assembly 44, so that the biasing pulley 43 is 
urged towards the drive pulley 41. In the vicinity of the arm assembly 44, 
there is a guide pulley 45 for guiding the initial end of the slackened 
side of the round belt 30a along the bottom end of a conveying unit 70. 
As shown in FIG. 6, at the other end of the bank note collecting line, 
there is connected a driven unit 50 having a driven pulley 51 placed over 
the round belt 30a. The driven unit 50 comprising a driven unit installing 
frame 50a movably attached to the plate 12 via a lower installing bracket 
56 and an introducing path supporting body 60 which can adjust its 
installing place with respect to the driven unit installing frame 50a. 
Both an upper installing bracket 55 and tile lower installing bracket 56 
are fixed to the plate 12. On the lower installing bracket 56, two 
elongated holes 56a are formed in parallel to each other in a vertical 
relationship. Connecting screws 56b are screwed into the connecting guide 
54 of the driven unit installing frame 50a through the long holes 56b of 
the lower installing bracket 56. The position of the driven unit 
installing frame 50a can be changed within the length of the long hole. 
On a wall 50b of the driven unit installing frame 50a, which pivotally 
supports the driven pulley 51, a groove 52 is formed for adjusting the 
tension of the round belt 30a by allowing the place of the shaft of the 
driven pulley 51 to change. In the groove 52, three branched grooves 53 
are formed so that the place of the shaft of the driven pulley 51 may 
change. In FIG. 6, the shaft 51a is placed in the top branch groove 53. 
At right and upper portion of the driven pulley 51, the mini-driven pulley 
57 is pivotally supported to let the round belt 30a placed over the driven 
pulley 51 go along the bank note collecting line extending horizontally at 
the rear of the line of the game machines 11a. Further, under a conveying 
unit 70 connected to the drive unit 50, a guide pulley 58 is provided via 
a supporting bracket 59 in order to let the end portion of the slackened 
side of the round belt 30a extend in parallel to the bottom of the 
conveying unit 70. 
As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the introducing path supporting body 60 which 
constitutes a part of the driven unit 50 has an introducing path assembly 
61. The introducing path assembly 61 is communicated with the bank note 
discharging slot 25 (refer to FIG. 3) of the ball landing machine 20 
arranged at the right end of the line of the game machines 11a, and 
introduces a bank note discharged from the discharging slot 25 to the 
round belt 30a. 
The introducing path assembly 61 is curved to the bank note collecting 
line. At the exit of a bank note introducing path 62 in the introducing 
path assembly 61, a guide board 63 is installed for letting a bank note 
travel along the round bell 30a. In front of the introducing path 
supporting body 60, a chute case 66, having a drive roller 65, and a chute 
cover 67, are provided. 
At the top end of the introducing path supporting body 60, there is a 
connecting guide 64. The connecting guide is slidably fitted with the 
upper installing bracket 55 fixed to the plate 12. On the upper installing 
bracket 55, an elongated hole 55a is formed for allowing a connecting 
screw 55b to pass therethrough. At the connecting guide 64 of the 
introducing path supporting body 60, the screw 55b passing though the hole 
55a of the upper installing bracket 55 is screwed so that the position of 
the introducing path supporting body 60 may be adjusted in a lateral 
direction as viewed in FIG. 6, namely in the conveying direction. 
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 8, the bank note collecting line is communicated 
with the bank note discharging slots 25 of the ball lending machines 20 
disposed between the game machines 11 by introducing units 80 connected to 
the intermediate conveying units 70, and length adjustment units 90, if 
desired. The intermediate conveying units 70 convey a bank note to the 
bank note collecting device 17, and form intermediate portions, i.e. 
intermediate conveying path assemblies. The introducing unit 80 and the 
intermediate conveying unit 70 are connected to each other in such a 
manner; that the relative position may be changed in the conveying 
direction. 
As shown in FIG. 8, the intermediate conveying unit 70 is provided, for 
example, by fixing joint members 72 at the top and bottom ends of a 
intermediate conveying path assembly 71 made of a plastic resin, and pairs 
of conveying rollers 73 provided where necessary. The number of the pairs 
is changed according to necessity. The pairs of conveying rollers 73 are 
supported pivotally at a roller installing board 74 mounted on the 
intermediate conveying path assembly 71. The joint members 72 are placed 
over the top and bottom ends of the intermediate conveying path assembly 
71. An upper connecting rail 72aand a lower connecting rail 72b are formed 
at the upper and lower faces of the joint member 72, respectively. 
The introducing unit 80 is formed by a conveying path 82 extending in the 
conveying direction of the round belt 30a, and an introducing path 83 
communicating the bank note discharging slots 25 of the ball lending 
machines 20 with the conveying path 82. The introducing path assembly 81 
is held by a connecting guide member 84. 
The connecting guide member 84 has a guide rail 85 fitted over the upper 
connecting rail 72a of the joint member 72 of the intermediate conveying 
unit 70, to be fixed to an upper guide 86. The connecting guide member 84 
further has a lower guide 87 which contacts the bottom of the lower 
connecting rail 72b of the joint member 72. 
The guide rail unit 85 and the lower guide 87 each have an elongated hole 
(not shown) to pass a connecting screw 88, therethrough. 
The intermediate conveying unit 70 and the introducing unit 80 are 
connected to each other by placing the connecting guide 84 of the 
introducing unit 80 ever the joint member 72 of the intermediate conveying 
unit 70, and by fitting the end of the conveying path 82 of the 
introducing path assembly 81 of the introducing unit 80 in the 
intermediate conveying assembly 71 of the intermediate conveying unit 70. 
When the connecting screw 88 loosens, the location of the intermediate 
conveying unit 70 and the introducing unit 80 may be changed within the 
length of the hole. 
As shown in FIG. 8, the length adjustment unit 90 has, at its end, a 
connecting portion 91 placed over the end of the conveying path 82 of the 
introducing path member g 1 of the introducing unit 80. At the connecting 
portion 91, hooks 92 are provided for engaging with steps 82a provided at 
the end of the conveying path 82. At the middle of the length adjustment 
unit 90, a pair of conveying rollers 73 are provided. 
The round belt 30a extends between each pair of rollers 73 in the bank note 
collecting line which is constituted by the introducing units 80, the 
intermediate conveying units 70, and the length adjustment units 90, 
The operation will now be described. 
As shown in FIG. 2, when the game machine island constructed, the ball 
lending machines 20 are each disposed between any two adjacent game 
machines 11 arranged side by side in line and the ball lending machines 20 
of the same type are arranged at both ends of the line of game machines 
11a. Thus, the ball lending machines for installing in the game machine 
island are standardized to one type only, thereby enhancing ease of 
installation and wiring construction. 
At the rear side of the line of the game machines 11a, the bank note 
conveying device 30 is provided for receiving the bank noes inserted in 
the ball lending machines 20, and conveying the bank notes along the bank 
note collecting line to collect the bank note in the bank note collecting 
device 17. The bank note conveying device 30 is constructed by first 
disposing the drive unit 40 having the drive pulley 41 at one end of the 
line of game machines 11a as shown in FIG. 1, and then disposing the 
driven unit 50 having the driven pulley 51 at the other end of the line of 
game machines 11a as shown in FIG. 6. 
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the drive unit 40 has the connecting guide unit 
46 which is slidably fitted to the installing bracket (refer to FIG. 6) 
fixed on the plate 12, so that the entrance of the introducing path 
assembly 47 on the wall 40b may be positioned to communicate with the bank 
note discharging slot 25 of the ball Wading machine 20 arranged at the end 
of the line of game machines. 
As shown in FIG. 6, the placement of the introducing path supporting body 
60 of the driven unit 50 is also easily adjusted by the connecting guide 
64 being slidably placed in the upper installing bracket 55 fixed on the 
plate 12, so that the entrance of the introducing path assembly 61 
provided on the introducing path body 60 may be positioned to communicate 
with the bank note discharging slot 25 of the ball lending machine 20 
arranged at the end of the line of the game machines 11a. Further, the 
placement of the driven unit installing frame 50a of the introducing path 
supporting body 60 is also adjusted by the connecting guide 54 which is 
slidably placed in the lower installing bracket 56. The round belt 30a 
which circulates in the main conveying direction along the bank note 
collecting line is placed over the drive pulley 41 and the driven pulley 
51. 
Means for passing the bank note from the bank note discharging slots 25 of 
the ball lending machines 20 to the bank note collecting line is provided, 
so that bank notes out from the bank note discharging slots 25 of the ball 
lending machines 20 may be brought into contact with the round belt 30a to 
be conveyed in the conveying direction. 
In the present invention, a space between the bank note discharging slots 
25 of the ball lending machines disposed between the game machines 11 and 
the bank note collecting line, especially spaces behind the game machines 
11 are utilized to install the special unit for guiding the bank note from 
the bank note discharging slots 25 of the ball lending machines 20 to the 
bank note collecting line. Thus, the introducing units 80 can be 
incorporated between the intermediate conveying units 70 which are 
disposed between the drive unit 40 and the driven unit 50. 
On the other hand, the ball lending machine 20 arranged at the end of the 
island has not a space sufficient to install the special unit for guiding. 
The introducing path assemblies 47, 61 provided in the drive unit 40 and 
the driven unit 50, respectively, are used to communicate with the bank 
note discharging slot 25, of the ball lending machine 20 disposed at the 
end of the island. Thus, the bank note from the ball lending machines 20 
can be sent directly to the round belt 30a along the bank note collecting 
line via the introducing path assembly 47 or 61.