Game machine having pop-up target
AssigneeNamco Ltd.
InventorMasaya Nakamura
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A game machine has a plurality of targets which unpredictably come out and disappear from their corresponding holes at the surface of a table on a game stand. A player can only strike targets which are positioned above the surface thereof. A main shaft is provided with the target on its upper end and is supported by bearings in such a manner that it can rotate and move up and down. A plunger disposed at the periphery of the main shaft is magnetically attracted by an electromagnetic solenoid. When raised, the main shaft always faces a predetermined direction due to an action of permanent magnets. Hitting of the target can be detected by monitoring abrupt large fluctuations in current flowing through the solenoid during a period of time that the target is caused to appear above the table.
Claims7
A game machine comprising:
- a game stand having a table through which at least one hole extends;
- a main shaft supported by bearings to be movable up and down and having a target heat portion at the upper end thereof so that the target head portion can pass through an associated one of said holes in the table;
- a plunger of magnetic material and disposed partially on the periphery of the main shaft and extending in its axial direction;
- solenoid means having at least one solenoid mounted to upwardly attract said plunger, the inner dimension of which enables the plunger on the main shaft to freely pass therethrough;
- and
- a control circuit for controlling the energization and deenergization of the solenoid means, whereby the target head portion is caused to appear on the surface of the table and disappear therefrom, said control circuit having a switching circuit in series with a current path for the solenoid and a hitting detection circuit comprising (a) a resistor in series with the current path for the solenoid, (b) a first circuit connected to said resistor and arranged to provide an output voltage which is lower than the voltaga across the resistor by a predetermined level and is varied as the voltage across the resistor, (c) a second circuit connected to said resistor and arranged to provide an output voltage which corresponds to the voltage across the resistor and is delayed with respect to an instantaneous level transition of the voltage across the resistor, and (d) a comparision circuit for comparing the output voltage of the first circuit with an output voltage of the second circuit and for producing an output at a time when the output voltage of the first circuit exceeds the output voltage of the second circuit whenever the comparison circuit outputs a signal of a hit.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.