Grabber Machine with Parameter Adjustment Function

This application claims priority to Taiwanese Invention patent application No. 114106758, filed on Feb. 24, 2025, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein.

The disclosure relates to a game machine, and more particularly to a grabber machine with a parameter adjustment function.

When detailed adjustments are needed for a conventional game machine, such as a grabber machine or a claw machine, an operator is typically required to operate an electromechanical device provided in the conventional game machine to adjust device parameters (e.g., a driving voltage associated with the operation of the conventional game machine). The electromechanical device generally includes a display interface that lists all adjustable device parameters, from which the user may select and adjust a desired parameter.

However, before manually calibrating and adjusting the device parameters, the operator must first understand the display interface (which may be difficult to interpret in some cases). Since the display interface covers all adjustable device parameters, the operator must spend time identifying and selecting specific setting options before adjustments can be made. Furthermore, if the operator is operating the display interface for the first time, additional time may be required to become familiar with the display interface.

Therefore, an object of the disclosure is to provide a grabber machine that can alleviate at least one of the drawbacks of the prior art.

According to the disclosure, a grabber machine with a parameter adjustment function includes a cabinet and a control device. The cabinet defines an inner space that allows an object to be placed therein. The control device is disposed in the cabinet and includes an input mechanism, a grabbing mechanism, and a processing module that is electrically connected to the input mechanism and the grabbing mechanism. The control device stores a lookup table that includes a grabbing setting operation related to setting grabbing parameters, where the grabbing parameters are related to grabbing and releasing of the object by the grabbing mechanism, and a grabbing setting command set that is associated with the grabbing setting operation, where the grabbing setting command set is related to generation of an output set of the grabbing parameters for the object. The processing module is configured to, in response to receiving a parameter setting signal that indicates the grabbing setting operation from the input mechanism, obtain, from the lookup table, the grabbing setting command set that is associated with the grabbing setting operation indicated by the parameter setting signal, and execute the grabbing setting command set to control the grabbing mechanism to perform a series of predetermined actions on the object, thereby generating the output set of the grabbing parameters that are related to moving the grabbing mechanism in the inner space, controlling the grabbing mechanism to perform a grabbing action, and controlling the grabbing mechanism to perform a releasing action.

Before the disclosure is described in greater detail, it should be noted that where considered appropriate, reference numerals or terminal portions of reference numerals have been repeated among the figures to indicate corresponding or analogous elements, which may optionally have similar characteristics.

It should be noted herein that for clarity of description, spatially relative terms such as “top,” “bottom,” “upper,” “lower,” “on,” “above,” “over,” “downwardly,” “upwardly” and the like may be used throughout the disclosure while making reference to the features as illustrated in the drawings. The features may be oriented differently (e.g., rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the spatially relative terms used herein may be interpreted accordingly.

1 FIG. 9 1 2 1 Referring to, according to an embodiment of the disclosure, a grabber machine with a parameter adjustment function is provided. The grabber machine is adapted to obtain grabbing parameters that are related to grabbing and releasing of an object, and includes a cabinet, and a control devicethat is disposed in the cabinet.

1 11 9 12 11 9 13 12 9 13 13 9 11 13 2 13 9 The cabinetdefines an inner spacethat allows the objectto be placed therein, and includes an output holethat is in spatial communication with the inner spaceand that is for retrieving the object, and an object sensorthat is disposed in the output holeand that is configured to determine whether the objecthas passed by the object sensor. The object sensoris configured to generate a detection signal when determining that the objecthas left the inner space(i.e., has passed by the object sensor), and to send the detection signal to the control device. In some embodiments, the object sensormay be an ultrasonic sensor, a weight sensor, or a pressure sensor for sensing the object.

6 FIG. 2 21 22 23 21 22 Referring further to, the control deviceincludes an input mechanism, a grabbing mechanism, and a processing modulethat is electrically connected to the input mechanismand the grabbing mechanism.

21 211 212 214 215 23 211 22 11 212 22 214 214 211 212 215 The input mechanismincludes a joystick, a grab button, a display interface, and an adjustment shortcut component, each being electrically connected to the processing module. The joystickis configured to be operated on to control movement of the grabbing mechanismin the inner space, the grab buttonis configured to be operated on to control the grabbing mechanismto perform a grabbing action, and the display interfaceis configured to display grabber machine setting parameters (e.g., the grabbing parameters). In some embodiments, the display interfacemay be a display screen, where the grabber machine setting parameters displayed on the display screen may be selected by the operator through controlling the joystickand or the grab button. In some embodiments, the adjustment shortcut componentmay be a button.

22 221 23 1 222 221 23 221 222 222 222 221 222 22 11 222 The grabbing mechanismincludes a driving unitthat is electrically connected to the processing moduleand that is movably disposed in the cabinet, and a claw unitthat is electrically connected to the driving unit, but the disclosure is not limited to such. Specifically, the processing moduleis configured to control the driving unitto output an operating voltage with different voltage levels to the claw unit, so as to adjust a grip strength of the claw unit(i.e., a greater voltage level provides a stronger grip strength of the claw unit). In some embodiments, the driving unitmay include a first motor that is configured to pull and release the claw unit, a second motor that is configured to move the grabbing mechanismin the inner space, and a voltage regulator or a voltage generator that is configured to output the operating voltage with different voltage levels to the claw unit.

2 22 9 9 215 211 212 The control devicestores a lookup table that includes a grabbing setting operation which is related to setting the grabbing parameters, and a grabbing setting command set which is associated with the grabbing setting operation. The grabbing parameters are used by the grabbing mechanismfor grabbing and releasing of the object, and the grabbing setting command set is related to generation of an output set of the grabbing parameters for the object. In one example, the grabbing setting operation may include pressing the adjustment shortcut componentfor a first predetermined time period. In another example, the grabbing setting operation may include simultaneously pushing the joystickin a first direction (e.g., a forward direction) and pressing the grab buttonfor a second predetermined time period.

2 22 9 22 9 22 22 22 The control devicefurther stores an effective set of the grabbing parameters and a default set of the grabbing parameters. The grabbing parameters may include a grabbing voltage level of the operating voltage that is outputted to the grabbing mechanismfor performing the grabbing action (e.g., for grabbing the object), a releasing voltage level of the operating voltage that is outputted to the grabbing mechanismfor performing the releasing action (e.g., for releasing the object), a standby voltage level of the operating voltage that is outputted to the grabbing mechanismbefore the grabbing mechanismperforms the grabbing action, and after the grabbing mechanismhas performed the releasing action. In some embodiments, the grabbing voltage level may be obtained through experiments.

23 212 21 23 22 11 9 9 When the processing modulereceives a grabbing operation signal (e.g., outputted by the grab buttonwhen pressed) from the input mechanism, the processing modulecontrols the grabbing mechanismto, based on the effective set of the grabbing parameters and the grabbing operation signal, move in the inner space, perform the grabbing action related to grabbing the object, and perform a releasing action related to releasing the object.

22 11 23 221 222 23 221 222 222 222 9 222 9 222 9 23 22 12 221 22 9 22 9 23 221 222 In practice, when the grabbing mechanismis moving in the inner spacebefore the grabbing action is performed, the processing modulecontrols the driving unitto output the operating voltage at the standby voltage level (e.g., 0 V) to the claw unit. After receiving the grabbing operation signal, the processing modulecontrols the driving unitto lower the claw unit, and to output the operating voltage at the grabbing voltage level to the claw unit, so that the claw unitperforms the grabbing action to grab the object. After the claw unithas grabbed the object(i.e., after the claw unithas been lowered to grab the objectand has been pulled up), the processing modulecontrols the grabbing mechanismto move toward the output hole, and then controls the driving unitto gradually reduce the operating voltage from the grabbing voltage level to the releasing voltage level, so as to make the grabbing mechanismrelease the object. After the grabbing mechanismreleases the object(i.e., after the operating voltage has been dropped to the releasing voltage level), the processing modulecontrols the driving unitto output the operating voltage at the standby voltage level to the claw unit, until receiving the grabbing operation signal again. In some embodiments, the operating voltage gradually reduces immediately after performing the grabbing action. In some embodiments, the operating voltage gradually reduces after the grabbing action has been performed for a preset time.

23 211 212 221 21 211 212 221 221 In this embodiment, the processing modulemay include a microcontroller, such as of an Arduino board, and is electrically connected to the joystick, the grab button, and the driving unit. When the microcontroller receives an input signal from the input mechanism(e.g., the joystickand/or the grab button), the microcontroller sends a control signal to the driving unitbased on the input signal, so as to drive the driving unitto operate, but the disclosure is not limited to such.

In this embodiment, the lookup table is prestored in a storage medium (e.g., flash memory, random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM)) of the microcontroller.

2 FIG. 31 33 Referring further to, according to an embodiment of the disclosure, a first procedure for obtaining the grabbing parameters includes stepsto.

31 23 21 23 21 In step, when the processing modulereceives a parameter setting signal that indicates the grabbing setting operation from the input mechanism, the processing moduleobtains the grabbing setting command set that is associated with the grabbing setting operation indicated by the parameter setting signal based on the lookup table. Specifically, the parameter setting signal is generated as a result of the input mechanismbeing operated with the grabbing setting operation.

3 FIG. 215 215 215 Referring further to, in one embodiment, the grabbing setting operation includes pressing the adjustment shortcut component. Therefore, when the adjustment shortcut componentis being pressed, the adjustment shortcut componentsends the parameter setting signal to the microcontroller, and the microcontroller obtains the grabbing setting command set based on the parameter setting signal and the lookup table.

32 23 22 9 22 11 22 22 In step, the processing moduleexecutes the grabbing setting command set to control the grabbing mechanismto perform a series of predetermined actions on the object, thereby generating the output set of the grabbing parameters that are related to moving the grabbing mechanismin the inner space, controlling the grabbing mechanismto perform the grabbing action, and controlling the grabbing mechanismto perform the releasing action.

4 FIG. 32 321 324 Referring further to, according to an embodiment of the disclosure, a second procedure for generating the grabbing parameters (i.e., step) includes sub-steps ofto.

321 23 22 9 In sub-step, the processing moduleexecutes the grabbing setting command set to control the grabbing mechanismto operate using the operating voltage at the grabbing voltage level to grab the object.

322 321 23 22 22 9 In sub-step, after sub-step, the processing modulecontrols the grabbing mechanismto gradually reduce the operating voltage from the grabbing voltage level to the releasing voltage level to make the grabbing mechanismrelease the object.

323 22 9 23 22 23 13 9 13 23 9 22 23 loose loose In sub-step, after the grabbing mechanismreleases the object(i.e., after the processing modulecontrols the grabbing mechanismto perform the releasing action), when the processing modulereceives the detection signal from the object sensorindicating that the objecthas passed by the object sensor, the processing moduleobtains a loose voltage level (V) of the operating voltage that is related to releasing the objectfrom the grabbing mechanism. To describe in further detail, the processing moduleobtains the loose voltage level (V) using the following equation:

1 23 9 22 23 22 23 13 13 222 22 where Vrepresents a level of the operating voltage at a moment the processing modulereceives the detection signal, ΔV represents a change in the operating voltage per unit time during the gradually reduction of the operating voltage (i.e., ΔV is a negative value during the gradually reducing of the operating voltage), and t represents a time difference between the objectbeing released from the grabbing mechanism(i.e., the processing modulecontrolling the grabbing mechanismto perform the releasing action) and the processing modulereceiving the detection signal from the object sensor. It should be noted that the time difference t may be obtained based on the free fall equation and a height difference from the object sensorto the claw unitof the grabbing mechanism. In some embodiments, the change in the operating voltage per unit time may be set by the operator.

22 12 221 222 9 221 22 321 221 221 222 9 322 221 221 222 222 9 323 9 13 1 FIG. 1 In this embodiment, the grabbing mechanismis located above the output holeinitially, that is, before starting a game with the grabber machine, as illustrated in. The grabbing setting command set includes a grab signal that indicates controlling the driving unitto drive the claw unitto grab the object, and a voltage reduction signal that indicates controlling the driving unitto gradually reduce the operating voltage that is outputted to the claw unitfor performing the releasing action. In sub-step, the microcontroller sends the grab signal to the driving unit, and upon receiving the grab signal, the driving unitdrives the claw unitto grab the objectusing the operating voltage at the grabbing voltage level. In sub-step, the microcontroller sends the voltage reduction signal to the driving unit, and upon receiving the voltage reduction signal, the driving unitgradually reduces the operating voltage that is outputted to the claw unitfrom the grabbing voltage level to the releasing voltage level, so that the claw unitreleases the object. In sub-step, upon detecting the objectpassing by, the object sensorsends the detection signal to the microcontroller, where the microcontroller obtains and stores the operating voltage of Vupon receiving the detection signal.

loose In some embodiments, the loose voltage level (V) may be obtained using another equation as follows:

but the disclosure is not limited to such.

324 23 In sub-step, the processing modulegenerates the output set of the grabbing parameters based on the grabbing voltage level and the loose voltage level. In one example, the releasing voltage level of the operating voltage may be adjusted to be slightly lower than the loose voltage level.

33 214 23 23 In step, upon receiving a parameter selection signal from the display interface, the processing moduleselects one of the default set of the grabbing parameters and the output set of the grabbing parameters to overwrite the effective set of the grabbing parameters. Specifically, the parameter selection signal indicates which one of the default set and the output set has been selected to overwrite the effective set, and the processing moduleoverwrites the effective set based on the parameter selection signal.

23 21 23 22 33 11 As such, after receiving the parameter selection signal and overwriting the effective set of the grabbing parameters, when the processing modulereceives the grabbing operation signal from the input mechanism, the processing modulecontrols the grabbing mechanismto, based on the effective set of the grabbing parameters (which is selected in step) and the grabbing operation signal, move in the inner space, perform the grabbing action, and perform the releasing action.

5 FIG. 214 1 2 1 2 211 212 1 2 214 1 2 23 23 Referring further to, in one embodiment, the display interfaceshows a first parameter set (P) that is being selected and a second parameter set (P) that is not selected. In one example, the first parameter set (P) is the output set of the grabbing parameters, and the second parameter set (P) is the default set of the grabbing parameters. In such a case, a user may operate the joystickand the push buttonto select one of the first parameter set (P) and the second parameter set (P), causing the display interfaceto send the parameter selection signal (which indicates either the first parameter set (P) or the second parameter set (P) to the processing module, and the processing moduleoverwrites the effective set of the grabbing parameters based on the parameter selection signal.

2 324 23 33 23 23 21 23 22 11 In some embodiments, the control devicefurther stores a parameter set log that includes a plurality of historical sets of the grabbing parameters, where the historical sets may be previous output sets that were obtained by the grabber machine. In such a case, in sub-step, after generating the output set of the grabbing parameters, the processing modulestores the output set of the grabbing parameters into the parameter set log. And in step, upon receiving the parameter selection signal, the processing modulere-determines the effective set of the grabbing parameters from the default set of the grabbing parameters and the parameter set log (which includes the historical sets and the output set), so that next time when the processing modulereceives the grabbing operation signal from the input mechanism, the processing modulecontrols the grabbing mechanismto, based on the effective set of the grabbing parameters thus re-determined and the grabbing operation signal, move in the inner space, perform the grabbing action, and perform the releasing action.

21 23 23 22 21 215 In summary, the embodiment of the present disclosure enables the operator to easily operate the input mechanismto generate and send the parameter setting signal to the processing module, so that the processing moduleobtains the grabbing setting command set based on the lookup table, and executes the grabbing setting command set to control the grabbing mechanismto perform the series of predetermined actions, thereby generating the output set of the grabbing parameters. As such, instead of manually controlling the grabber machine to perform the series of predetermined actions, the operator simply needs to operate the input mechanism(e.g., by pressing the adjustment shortcut component) to adjust the grabbing parameters.

In the description above, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details have been set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiment(s). It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that one or more other embodiments may be practiced without some of these specific details. It should also be appreciated that reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” an embodiment with an indication of an ordinal number and so forth means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic may be included in the practice of the disclosure. It should be further appreciated that in the description, various features are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure and aiding in the understanding of various inventive aspects; such does not mean that every one of these features needs to be practiced with the presence of all the other features. In other words, in any described embodiment, when implementation of one or more features or specific details does not affect implementation of another one or more features or specific details, said one or more features may be singled out and practiced alone without said another one or more features or specific details. It should be further noted that one or more features or specific details from one embodiment may be practiced together with one or more features or specific details from another embodiment, where appropriate, in the practice of the disclosure.

While the disclosure has been described in connection with what is (are) considered the exemplary embodiment(s), it is understood that this disclosure is not limited to the disclosed embodiment(s) but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.