JP2000005375A - Slot machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enhance the fan of a game by announcing a game condition by using an announcing means having a strong bodily sensation. SOLUTION: This slot machine has a vibration generator 40 which is mounted behind an operation section, such as a start lever 7 or stop button, and vibrates this operation section or the neighborhood thereof and a control means 32 which activates this vibration generator 40 under the respective game condition. More preferably the vibration generator 40 comprises a motor 41 mounted via an elastic material, such as rubber, to a mounting section 21b and a weight 44 mounted eccentrically to the revolving shaft of this motor.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a slot machine as a gaming machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, a slot machine has a plurality of reels each having a plurality of types of symbols displayed on an outer periphery thereof arranged in three horizontal rows.
Each reel is rotated simultaneously by a start lever for each game, and when all three reels are stopped by operating three stop buttons, the presence or absence of a prize is determined based on a combination of symbols on each reel. In particular, in a special case where the combination of symbols on each reel is, for example, "7"-"7"-"7", a so-called bonus game which is more advantageous to the player than a normal game is performed a plurality of times thereafter. I have. In recent slot machines, in order to make this special symbol, that is, a combination of bonus symbols appear on average, a random number lottery is performed by a microcomputer, and a bonus flag is set according to the result of the lottery. Even if the operation timing of the stop button operated by the user is slightly out of the permissible range, stop control of the reel is performed so that a bonus symbol appears.

In such a slot machine, as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 5-7008, when a bonus flag is established and a bonus symbol appears, the situation is given to a player. It is known to turn on a display lamp or sound a speaker to notify the user. Also, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-51431
In the official gazette, regardless of whether the bonus flag is established, if the combination of stop symbols becomes a so-called reach,
It is also disclosed that the player is notified of this by a display lamp or a speaker.

[0004]

By the way, in the above-mentioned conventional slot machine, the game status is reported by display lamps or speakers, but from the viewpoint of enhancing the interest of the game, the notification is more sensible. It is desired to notify by means.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a slot machine which can enhance the interest of a game by informing the player of the game state using a highly sensible informing means. To provide.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a slot machine which is mounted behind an operation unit such as a start lever and a stop button as a slot machine. And a control means for operating the vibration generator in a predetermined game situation. In this configuration, for example, when the bonus flag is established, the vibration generator operates under the control of the control means, and the operating section or its vicinity vibrates to give a bodily sensation through the player's hand or the like. can do.

The invention according to claim 2 provides a preferable mode of the vibration generator. That is, the vibration generator is constituted by a motor mounted on the mounting portion via an elastic body such as rubber, and a weight eccentrically mounted on the rotating shaft of the motor. In this configuration, the weight eccentrically rotates when the motor rotates, and the motor itself fluctuates within the elastic range of the elastic body with the eccentric rotation, so that a large vibration is generated with a small motor.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a slot machine A according to an embodiment of the present invention. The slot machine A has a front door 1 openably and closably mounted on a front side of a housing (not shown) for storing devices, the front door 1 has a reel display window 2, a credit number display. Part 3, payout number display part 4, number of hits display part 5, medal slot 6, starting lever 7, three stop buttons 8, 8, 8, 1 bet button 9, 2 bet button 10, 3 bet button 11, a medal return button 12, a settlement switch 13, a door key 14, a medal payout exit 15, a medal tray 16, and the like are provided. The surface of the front door 1 is constituted by a middle panel 18 around the reel display window 2 and the periphery thereof, by an operation panel 20 near a lower operation portion thereof, and further by a decorative panel 19 at a lower portion thereof.

On the reel display window 2 and the periphery thereof (that is, the surface of the middle panel 18), a total of five pay lines L1 to L5, three horizontal and two oblique, are shown.
If the number of medals inserted into the game is one, only the central winning line L1 is used. If the number of medals is two, three horizontal winning lines L1 are used.
If L3 is three, all five pay lines L1-L
5 are respectively activated. From the reel display window 2, three reels (not shown) provided independently and rotatably in the housing can be seen in a horizontal row. A plurality of types of symbols are drawn on the outer peripheral surface of each reel, and when the reel is stopped, symbols for three frames of each reel are arranged in line on each of the pay lines L1 to L5.

The start lever 7 starts the rotation of the three reels simultaneously or sequentially, and the three stop buttons 8, 8, 8 individually stop the rotation of the corresponding reels. is there. Then, as described above, the winning lines L1 to L5 activated according to the number of inserted coins.
When a predetermined combination of symbols is arranged on L5, the number of obtained coins according to the combination is displayed on the payout number display section 4, and the number of medals is transmitted from the medal payout slot 15 to the medal tray 1.
6 is paid out.

The slot machine A is of a so-called credit type in which a plurality of medals are inserted and deposited in advance through the medal insertion slot 6 and a game can be played while consuming the deposited medals. The display unit 3 displays the number of deposited medals. When the 1 bet button 9 is pressed prior to the operation of the start lever 7, one medal is inserted, when the 2 bet button 10 is pressed, two medals are inserted, and when the 3 bet button 11 is pressed, three medals are inserted. The winning lines L1 to L5 are activated in the same manner as in the case where the game is performed. The settlement switch 13 is for adjusting the deposited medals and paying out the medals from the medal payout exit 15 to the medal tray 16.

The mounting structure of the starting lever 7 is shown in FIGS. That is, the base end of the starting lever 7 extends through the operation panel 20 of the front door 1 to the rear side thereof, and is supported via the support shaft 22 by the mounting bracket 21 arranged at that position.

The mounting bracket 21 is mounted on the operation panel 2.
A plurality of bosses 27, which are in contact with the back surface of the control panel 20 via a rubber backing plate 26 and are formed on the back surface of the operation panel 20,
… Are fixed by screws 28, respectively.
A rubber collar member 29 is provided at each of the screw 28 stopping points to provide a certain gap between the mounting bracket 21 or the backing plate 26 and the operation panel 20 so as not to bring the two into contact. I have. The support shaft 22 is
The starting lever 7 penetrates the center portion, and both end portions are rotatably supported by a pair of left and right support walls 21a, 21a of the mounting bracket 21, respectively.

The starting lever 7 is vertically swingably supported between a horizontal state (a state shown in FIG. 3) extending substantially horizontally around the support shaft 22 and an inclined state inclined downward by a predetermined angle. At the same time, it is constantly urged to be in a horizontal state by a coil spring (not shown) bridged between the starting lever 7 and the mounting bracket 21. A photo interrupter 31 is attached to the mounting portion 21 b of the mounting bracket 21 corresponding to the base end of the starting lever 7. The photo interrupter 31 detects whether the starting lever 7 is in a non-operated horizontal state or is operated and is in an inclined state. The detection signal is input to a machine control unit 32 that controls the slot machine A. You.

The mounting portion 21b of the mounting bracket 21
Is formed so as to be bent substantially at a right angle to the support wall 21a that supports the support shaft 22, and the vibration generator 40 is provided below the photointerrupter 31 mounting portion of the mounting portion 21b. As shown in FIG. 5, the vibration generator 40 is mounted on the mounting portion 21b via the rubber case 42 and the motor cover 43 with the rotating shaft 41a oriented in the horizontal direction.
And a weight 44 attached to a rotating shaft 41a of the motor 41.
Is a semicircular shape that exists only on one side of the rotating shaft 41a, and is mounted eccentrically with respect to the rotating shaft 41a.

The rubber case 42 is made of an elastic material such as an elastic rubber such as silicone rubber or urethane or a resin.
As shown in detail in FIG. 6, the motor 41 is formed in such a shape as to closely cover the outer peripheral surface thereof. The motor cover 43 is made of resin such as ABS, and is formed with a housing 43a for housing the motor 41 and the rubber case 42 mounted on the motor 41, protruding from both sides of the housing 43a, and attached by screws 46. It has two right and left fixing portions 43b, 43b fixed to the portion 21b.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 7, the machine control section 32 has a CPU 51, which is a control main body, a ROM 52 for storing a control program and fixed data, and a RAM 53 for reading and writing data. . The above C
The start lever 7, the three stop buttons 8, 8, 8, 1 bet button 9,
In addition to the 2-bet button 10, the 3-bet button 11, the vibration generator 40, a medal sensor 56 for detecting insertion of a medal into the medal insertion slot 6, a medal payout machine 57 for paying out medals from the medal payout exit 15, and each reel. The three reel driving units 58, 58, 58, etc., which are individually driven, are connected so as to be able to send and receive signals. The CPU 51 converts the control program stored in the ROM 52 and the fixed data such as the symbol arrangement table and the lottery table of each reel. Based on this, the operation of these input / output units is controlled while reading / writing data from / to the RAM 53.

The control of the vibration generator 40 (more specifically, the motor 41) by the CPU 51 is performed according to a flowchart shown in FIG. Hereinafter, this flowchart will be described.

That is, in FIG. 8, after the medals are inserted or the number of credit medals used is set in step S0, it is first determined in step S1 whether the big hit flag (so-called bonus flag) is already ON. When the determination is YES, the vibration generator 40 is turned on, that is, in the operating state in step S2, and then the process proceeds to step S3. When the determination is NO, the process directly proceeds to step S3.

Then, in step S3, the control waits until the starting lever 7 is operated, and then, in step S4, it is determined again whether the big hit flag is ON. When the determination is NO, random number lottery is performed in step S5, and it is determined in step S6 whether the lottery result is a big hit.
If the determination is YES, the jackpot flag is turned ON in step S7, and the process proceeds to step S9. If the determination is NO, the process directly proceeds to step S9. If the determination in step S4 is YES, the vibration generator 40 is turned off in step S8, and then the process proceeds to step S9.

In step S9, the three reels are rotated. In step S10, all the reels are stopped. After that, in step S11, the symbols on the respective reels are, for example, "7"-"7"-"7". It is determined whether or not all the jackpots have been collected. When this determination is YES, after performing the jackpot processing in step S12, step S1
3. Turn off the jackpot flag at 3 and return,
When the determination is NO, the process returns after performing the losing process in step S14.

Therefore, according to such control, if the lottery results in a jackpot and the jackpot flag is set once, before the start of each game, that is, after all the reels are stopped in the previous game, the player will Until the medal is inserted and the start lever 7 is operated, the vibration generator 40 operates to apply vibration to the start lever 7 via the mounting bracket 21, and the vibration sets the big hit flag on the player. Will be notified. The vibration is stopped immediately after the operation of the starting lever 7. For this reason, the player can visually recognize that the big hit flag has been established by the vibration of the start lever 7, and the interest of the game can be enhanced. In this example, the vibration notification is performed for each game, but when the jackpot flag is established, the vibration notification may be continuously performed without interruption until the jackpot flags are aligned.

Further, the vibration generator 40 is mounted eccentrically on a motor 41 mounted on a mounting portion 21b of a mounting bracket 21 via a rubber case 42 and a motor cover 43, and on a rotating shaft 41a of the motor 41. When the motor 41 rotates, the weight 44 eccentrically rotates, and with the eccentric rotation, the motor 41 itself fluctuates within the elastic range of the rubber case 42 and the range of the gap with the motor cover 43. Large vibration can be generated while reducing the size of the motor 41.

Further, the mounting bracket 21 is for originally supporting the starting lever 7 and for mounting the photo interrupter 31 for lever operation detection, and requires a new member for disposing the vibration generator 40. This is very advantageous in realizing the implementation.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but encompasses various other forms.
For example, in the above embodiment, the case where the vibration generator 40 for vibrating the start lever 7 of the slot machine A is described, but the present invention is not limited to the stop button 8 and the bet buttons 9 to 11 other than the start lever 7. A vibration generator that vibrates the operation unit or its vicinity (for example, the operation panel 20) may be provided, and the vibration may be used to notify the player of the game situation. Further, a part of the middle panel 18 and the decorative panel 19 of the front door 1 may be vibrated together with the operation panel 20,
The vibration may be increased to such an extent that it can be visually recognized.

The present invention also relates to the motor 4 according to the embodiment.
Instead of using the vibration generator 40 using the vibration generator 1, a vibration generator 60 as shown in FIG. 9 may be used. The vibration generator 60 includes a vibration transmitting member 61, a vibration plate 62, a moving coil 63, a yoke 64, a pole piece 65, a permanent magnet 66, and a supporting elastic body 67. It is floated and supported by a floating elastic body 69 such as a rubber damper to prevent resonance on the mounting portion 68 side. The vibration transmitting member 61 is connected to the operation unit (for example, a knob of the starting lever 7) of the slot machine touched by the player's hand or the periphery thereof (for example, the operation panel 2).
0) is formed in an appropriate shape so as to form a partial surface, and the vibration of the diaphragm 62 is transmitted to the player's hand. The moving coil 63 is inserted into a magnetic gap formed by the yoke 64 and the pole piece 65. When a current of an acoustic signal in a heavy / low sound region flows through the moving coil 63, a driving force is generated to vibrate. The support elastic body 67 is made of a rubber bellows or the like, and flexibly connects a movable portion (the vibration transmission member 61, the diaphragm 62, the moving coil 63) and a fixed portion (the yoke 64 and the like). When the vibration generator 60 is used, when the big hit flag is established, the sound is notified by the heavy bass sound, and the signal is received to generate the vibration, and the bodily sensation can be notified.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, when the big hit flag is established, the vibration of the vibration generator 40 is used to notify the player of the game situation. However, the present invention provides the following information as information of the game situation. It can be applied to other cases.

In the above-described embodiment, the vibration generator 40 is turned off when the jackpot flag is not established. However, even when the flag is not established, vibration notification is performed in accordance with the probability of random number lottery so that game characteristics are enhanced.

The general winning by the small role is determined by lottery,
The notification may also be made when the small role winning flag is established. In this case, the bonus flag (big hit flag)
It is preferable to make a distinction by notifying by weaker vibration than in the case of.

In the above embodiment, when the bonus flag is set, the vibration is notified before the reel starts rotating. However, regardless of whether the bonus flag is established, the reach eye may be notified by vibration. . That is, when all the reels have stopped, the reach pattern is displayed on the reach display window 2.
When a stop symbol appears, the entire vicinity of the start lever 7 or the stop button 8, that is, the operation panel 20 is vibrated,
The operation is continued until the start lever 7 is operated.

The vibration notification is performed not only before and after the start operation, but also
It may be performed after the reel rotation starts. For example, the operation panel 20 is vibrated and notified after at least one reel has stopped.

When the symbols of the two stop reels are in a temper (reach) state in which there is a possibility that the symbols will be in a predetermined prize state, and when the final reel is stopped, the prize symbols are set to facilitate so-called eye-pressing operation. The stop button 8 or its vicinity is vibrated to notify the timing of approaching the winning line.

When a bonus prize state is established, the vicinity of the operation unit is vibrated for each game during the bonus game, thereby strongly indicating that the bonus game is being performed.

[0034]

As described above, according to the slot machine of the present invention, when the bonus flag is established or the like, the operation section or its vicinity vibrates to inform the player of the game situation through the player's hand or the like. It is possible to enhance the interest of the game.

In particular, in the invention according to claim 2, the weight eccentrically rotates when the motor rotates, and the motor itself fluctuates within the elastic range of an elastic body such as rubber with the eccentric rotation. Thus, a large vibration can be generated, which is very effective in realizing the implementation.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a slot machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway plan view showing a mounting structure of a starting lever of the slot machine.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line XX of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a view as seen from an arrow Y in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a vibration generator that is a main component of the slot machine.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a rubber case which is one component of the vibration generator.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a control system of the slot machine.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an operation control of the vibration generator.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of a vibration generator according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 A Slot machine 7 Start lever 8 Stop button 20 Operation panel 21 Mounting bracket 21b Mounting section 32 Machine control section (control means) 40, 60 Vibration generator 41 Motor 41a Rotating shaft 42 Rubber case 44 Weight

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A vibration generator attached to the rear of an operation unit such as a start lever or a stop button to vibrate the operation unit or its vicinity, and control means for operating the vibration generator in a predetermined game situation. A slot machine comprising: 2. The vibration generator according to claim 1, wherein the vibration generator includes a motor mounted on a mounting portion via an elastic body such as rubber, and a weight mounted eccentrically on a rotating shaft of the motor.
The described slot machine.