JP7138974B2 - Chips and game table - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to chips and gaming tables.

Regarding chips used in amusement facilities such as casinos, Patent Documents 1 and 2, for example, describe a technique in which an RFID tag is mounted on a chip (coin) so that the position of the chip on a game table can be detected. there is Further, Patent Documents 3 and 4 disclose a method of determining the authenticity of a chip by transmitting identification information stored in a memory of a chip using optical communication to a discriminating device using optical communication. disclosed.

U.S. Patent Publication US8540579 United States Patent Publication US7938722 JP 2006-238899 A JP-A-8-19409

By the way, in card games and roulette that are played using a gaming table, there are many cases where a plurality of chips are stacked and used. However, the prior art described above detects the position of a single chip or determines the authenticity of a chip, and accurately detects the number and identification information of chips stacked on a gaming table. I had a problem that I couldn't do it.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a technique capable of accurately detecting the number of chips stacked on a gaming table and identification information. .

A chip according to one aspect of the present invention includes a light-emitting portion, a light-receiving portion, and a processing portion. The gist of the invention is that the identification information of the other chip is emitted from the light emitting portion as a light emission signal.
A gaming table according to another aspect of the present invention is a gaming table for arranging chips, which is arranged in each predetermined section, and emitted from the chips arranged in the section or a plurality of stacked chips. a photodetector that detects a light emission signal that is received; and a specifier that specifies a chip arranged in a section or a plurality of stacked chips based on the detection result of the photodetector, wherein the specifier comprises: The gist is to specify a chip or a plurality of chips arranged in one section based on one or more pieces of identification information contained in a light emission signal detected by a photodetector arranged in the section.

According to the present invention, it is possible to accurately detect the number of chips stacked on the gaming table and the identification information.

It is a figure which shows the external appearance of a chip. 3 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of the chip; FIG. It is the figure which illustrated the structure of chip information. 4 is a conceptual diagram for explaining the operation of the chip; FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing the operation of the chip; It is the figure which illustrated the table surface of the game table. It is the schematic diagram which illustrated the inside of the game table. FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram for explaining the operation of the photodetector when chips are stacked in a certain section; It is a block diagram which shows the structure of a management system.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that, in each figure, the same reference numerals have the same or similar configurations.

A. Present Embodiment [Chip Configuration]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the appearance of the chip, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of the chip.
The chip T is a medium used for various games (roulette, card games, etc.) played on the gaming table. Note that the shape and size of the chip T are arbitrary.

The chip T has a body portion 101 formed in a substantially disk shape (coin shape), and a light guide portion 102, a light emitting portion 103, a light receiving portion 104, a processing portion 105, and a power receiving antenna 106 are provided therein. (See Figure 2).

Light guide portion 102 includes a light guide plate that transmits infrared rays used for data communication, and is arranged in the central portion so as to include the central axis of body portion 101 . In addition, in this embodiment, infrared communication is exemplified as an example of data communication, but it is also applicable to ultraviolet communication and visible light communication.

The light emitting section 103 includes, for example, an infrared LED, and is provided at two locations facing the outer peripheral surface of the light guide section 102 . The light emitting portion 103 is positioned to emit infrared light to the light guiding portion 102 .

The light receiving section 104 includes an infrared LED sensor, for example, and is provided at two locations facing the outer peripheral surface of the light guide section 102 . The light receiving section 104 receives infrared light emitted from other vertically stacked chips T via the light guide section 102 .

The processing unit 105 includes a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like, and the CPU reads control programs and data stored in the ROM and the RAM, thereby centrally controlling each unit of the chip T.

The memory M of the processing unit 105 stores a chip ID for identifying the own chip T and a user ID for identifying the user to whom the own chip T is lent. The processing unit 105 uses infrared light emitted from the light emitting unit 103 to output (that is, transmit) the chip information (see FIG. 3) including the chip ID of its own chip T and the user ID to the outside. In addition, when the processing unit 105 receives infrared light from another vertically stacked chip T via the light receiving unit 104, the processing unit 105 acquires (that is, receives) chip information of the other chip T from the received infrared light. do. When the processing unit 105 acquires the chip information of another chip T stacked vertically, the processing unit 105 uses the infrared light emitted from the light emitting unit 103 to transmit the other chip information together with its own chip information to an external device. to.

The power receiving antenna 106 is an antenna for receiving power supply (so-called wireless power supply) from the game table 300 (see FIG. 4 etc. described later) in a non-contact manner. In this embodiment, power is supplied from the game table 300 via electromagnetic waves. receive. Power received via the power receiving antenna 106 is supplied to each unit by the processing unit 105 . Note that contact wireless power feeding may be employed instead of non-contact wireless power feeding.

An operation for transmitting and receiving chip information using infrared light will be described below with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. FIG. In the following, the infrared light superimposed with chip information received through the light receiving unit 104 is referred to as a light receiving signal S1, and the infrared light superimposed with chip information emitted through the light emitting unit 103 is referred to as a light receiving signal S1. is called a light emission signal S2.

FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram for explaining the operation of the chip T, and FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing the operation of the chip T. As shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, n chips T1, T2, . . . Tn are stacked in order from the top.

When the processing unit 105 of each chip T receives power supply from the game table 300 via the power receiving antenna 106 (step S1), the light emitting unit 103 guides a light emission signal S2 superimposed with its own chip information. A call is made to the unit 102 (step S2).

The processing unit 105 of each chip T determines whether or not it has received the received light signal S1 on which the chip information of another chip is superimposed via the light receiving unit 104 (step S3). When the processing unit 105 of each chip T determines that it has received the received light signal S1 on which the chip information of the other chip is superimposed (step S3; YES), the processing unit 105 of each chip T transmits its own chip information through the light emitting unit 103 and the other A light emission signal S2 on which the chip information of the chip is superimposed is transmitted toward the light guide section 102 (step S4). If the processing unit 105 of each chip T determines that it has not received the received light signal S1 on which the chip information of another chip is superimposed (step S3; NO), it skips step S4 and skips step S5. proceed to

The processing unit 105 of each chip T, when proceeding to step S5, determines whether or not the power supply from the game table 300 has stopped. An example of the power supply being stopped is when each chip T is removed from the gaming table 300 by the dealer. When the processing unit 105 of each chip T determines that the power supply has not stopped (step S5; NO), it returns to step S2 and repeats a series of processes. By repeating such an operation, the chip Tn positioned at the lowest order outputs the light emission signal S2 including the chip information of all the chips T1, T2, . . . Tn. This light emission signal S2 is detected by the light detection section 304 provided on the game table 300 . After that, for example, when the dealer removes each chip T from the gaming table 300 and determines that the power supply from the gaming table 300 has stopped (step S5; YES), the processing unit 105 of each chip T performs the processing described above. finish. The configuration of the gaming table 300 will be described below.

[Configuration of game table]
As shown in FIG. 4, in the bottom layer of the game table 300, a power supply unit 305 that performs non-contact wireless power supply to the chip T is provided. Above the power supply section 305, a table surface is formed by laminating a glass plate 303, a light-transmissive cushioning material 302, and an acrylic plate 301 with a predetermined interval. A photodetector (photosensor) 304 for detecting the light emission signal S2 emitted from the chip T is provided between the glass plate 303 and the buffer material 302 . A unique photosensor ID that can be uniquely identified is assigned to each photodetector 304 .

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating the table surface of the gaming table 300, and FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating the inside of the gaming table 300. As shown in FIG.
In this embodiment, as an example of the game table 300, a game table 300 used for roulette is assumed. As shown in FIG. 6, the photodetector 304 is arranged for each section A. As shown in FIG. Section A is set corresponding to individual numbers, colors, columns, etc. displayed on the gaming table 300 . Each player progresses the game by stacking (that is, betting) a number of chips T corresponding to his/her bet in a desired section A. In addition, a light blocking portion 306 is provided at the boundary portion of each section A so as to prevent erroneous detection due to intrusion of the light emission signal S2 from the adjacent section A (see FIG. 4). However, whether or not to provide the light shielding portion 306 is optional.

FIG. 8 is a conceptual diagram for explaining the operation of the photodetector 304 when n chips T are stacked in a certain section A. As shown in FIG.
The light detection unit 304 emits light in which the chip information of all the chips T1, T2, . . . When the signal S2 is received, it adds a unique photosensor ID assigned to itself and transmits it to the management device 400 (described later) as bet chip information.

<System configuration>
FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a management system 500 according to this embodiment.
The management system 500 includes a plurality of chips T, a plurality of game tables 300 and a management device 400. FIG. In FIG. 9, one chip T and one gaming table 300 are shown for convenience of explanation.

The management device 400 is a device for managing the chips T used in the game facility, and is composed of a server computer having a CPU, ROM, and RAM, for example. The management device 400 is communicably connected to the game table 300 via a wired line or a wireless line.

The management device 400 includes an acquisition unit 401, an identification unit 402, an output unit 403, a position database DB1, and a management database DB2.

The acquisition unit 401 acquires bet chip information (see FIG. 8) transmitted from the gaming table 300 .
The identifying unit 402 identifies the betting position of the chips, the number and amount of chips bet, and the bet user by analyzing the acquired bet chip information. More specifically, the specifying unit 402 specifies the section A (ie, chip betting position) in which the light detecting unit 304 is arranged based on the photosensor ID included in the betting chip information. A position management table TA1 in which a photosensor ID and position information specifying a corresponding section A are associated with each other is registered in the position database DB1. Upon acquiring the photosensor ID, the specifying unit 402 specifies the bet position of the chip by referring to the position management table TA1.

Furthermore, the specifying unit 402 specifies the number of chips and the amount of money based on the chip ID included in the bet chip information. The management database DB2 stores a tip management table TA2 showing the relationship between the tip ID and the amount associated with the tip. After obtaining the chip ID, the identification unit 402 identifies the number of chips and the amount of money by referring to the chip management table TA2. The term "tip amount" as used herein includes not only the amount for each chip, but also the total amount of a plurality of stacked chips. Further, the identifying unit 402 identifies the betting user based on the user ID included in the bet chip information.

The output unit 403 includes, for example, a display panel, and displays the information specified by the specifying unit 402 on the display panel of the amusement facility. By checking the information displayed on the display panel, users, dealers, etc. can quickly and accurately grasp which user has bet on which betting position and how much chips they have bet. It becomes possible.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, each chip T stacked in the height direction of the gaming table 300 emits a light emission signal containing its own chip information and the chip information of other chips T above and/or below. Since S2 is transmitted, the chip T can be identified even when the chips T are stacked. As a result, it is possible to specify the chip T placed at the end of the bet, and display an error when the chip T is placed after the result of the game is obtained. For example, the management device 400 detects the reception timing of bet chip information transmitted from the gaming table 300 . Based on the reception timing of the bet chip information, the management device 400 determines whether the chip T is correctly placed within the betting period or the chip T is incorrectly placed after the betting period ends and the result of the game is announced. to determine whether When the management device 400 determines that the chip T is placed illegally, it outputs an error message to the output unit 403 and performs processing to invalidate the bet operation. According to such a configuration, it is possible to suppress an illegal betting operation such as placing chips T after the result of the game is obtained.

B. Modification In this embodiment, the management device 400 and the gaming table 300 are configured separately, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the game table 300 may be provided with the functions of the management device 400 to form an integrated structure. Also, part of the functions of the management device 400 (for example, the acquisition unit 401 and the identification unit 402) may be provided in the game table 300. FIG.

In the present embodiment, the light guide portion 102 is provided in the central portion of the chip T, but the light guide portion 102 may be provided concentrically on the outer peripheral side of the chip T. FIG. When the light guide portion 102 is provided on the outer peripheral side, there is an advantage that light can be easily guided between the upper and lower chips even if a plurality of chips T are stacked at random. Also, the chip T may have a shape other than a substantially disc shape (coin shape) such as a polygon.

In the present embodiment, the chip information (see FIG. 3) including the chip ID and user ID of the own chip T is exemplified, but the structure of the chip information is not limited to this. For example, if the user who uses the tip has already been identified, the tip information does not need to include the user ID. In addition to the tip ID and the user ID, the tip information may include information representing the amount of money associated with the tip (for example, 10 dollars).

In this embodiment, the photodetector 304 is configured by a photosensor, but a high-sensitivity camera or the like may be used instead of the photosensor.

C. Others The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments and modifications, and can be implemented in various other forms without departing from the gist of the present invention. For example, each element described above and its arrangement, materials, conditions, shape, size, etc. are not limited to those illustrated and can be changed as appropriate. Also, it is possible to partially replace or combine the configurations shown in different embodiments. Furthermore, each processing step described above can be arbitrarily changed in order or executed in parallel as long as the content of processing is not inconsistent.

Further, in this specification, the term "unit" does not simply mean a physical configuration, but also includes the case where the processing executed by the "unit" is implemented by software. In addition, even if the processing executed by one "section" is realized by two or more physical configurations or devices, the processing executed by two or more "sections" may not be realized by one physical means or device. good too.

A program for executing each process described in this specification may be stored in a recording medium. By using this recording medium, the above program can be installed in the chip T, the game table 300, and the management device 400. FIG. Here, the recording medium storing the program may be a non-transitory recording medium. The non-transitory recording medium is not particularly limited, but may be, for example, a recording medium such as a CD-ROM.

T chip 101 main unit 102 light guide unit 103 light emitting unit 104 light receiving unit 105 processing unit 106 power receiving antenna 300 game table 304 light detecting unit 305 power feeding unit , 306... Light shielding unit, 400... Management device, 401... Acquisition unit, 402... Identification unit, 403... Output unit, DB1... Position database, DB2... Management database.

Claims (6)

comprising a light-emitting unit, a light-receiving unit, and a processing unit,
A chip in which the processing unit causes the light emitting unit to emit, together with its own identification information, identification information of other chips stacked on its own chip, which is included in the light receiving signal received by the light receiving unit, as a light emission signal. further comprising a substantially disk-shaped main body portion having a light guide portion,
The light guide portion is formed to include the central axis of the body portion,
2. The chip according to claim 1, wherein said light emitting portion is arranged so as to be able to emit light to said light guide portion. 3. The chip according to claim 2, wherein said light receiving section is arranged so as to be able to receive said light emitting signal from said light emitting section of said other chip stacked on said own chip. 4. The chip according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein said processing unit includes a plurality of pieces of identification information included in said light reception signal in said light emission signal and emits said light emission signal. A gaming table for placing chips,
a photodetector arranged in each predetermined section and detecting a light emission signal emitted from a chip arranged in the section or a plurality of stacked chips;
a specifying unit that specifies a chip arranged in the partition or a plurality of stacked chips based on a detection result by the photodetector;
The identification unit identifies a chip or a plurality of chips arranged in one section based on one or more pieces of identification information included in the light emission signal detected by the light detection unit arranged in the one section. A specific gaming table. 6. The game table according to claim 5, wherein a light shielding section is provided around the light detection section for blocking light from a section adjacent to the section in which the light detection section is arranged.

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