JP2001346937A - Game machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To compensate a technique level difference between a beginner and an expert, to increase the expectation of the expert and to provide interest. SOLUTION: A shielding member 150 is provided around a drum 14 (a position facing a display window 114) and is made rotatable around the rotary shaft of the drum 14 by the driving force of a pulse motor 160 and a visually recognizable pattern area is made smaller than the area of the display window 114 by the rectangular hole 154 of the shielding member 150. In the case that a winning pattern is arranged inside the display window 114 and is shielded with the shielding member 150 (refer to the state of figure 5), by rotationally moving the shielding member 150, the winning pattern is visually recognized (refer to the state of figure 6). Thus, the lag of a spot pushing timing by the beginner is covered and the difference of a technique level from the expert is mitigated.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a design variation in which a symbol is changed over a plurality of columns, and a transition to a gaming state advantageous to a player is made on condition that a specific symbol is arranged in a display window in each column. The present invention relates to a gaming machine having a display function.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art
For example, in a spinning-type gaming machine (hereinafter, referred to as a pachi-slot machine), a lottery is performed at the moment when a start lever is operated (hit).

[0003] As a result of the lottery, when a win occurs, a flag is established in the control program, and by the establishment of the flag, it becomes possible to align a specific symbol (hit symbol) by so-called pressing, and when the specific symbol is finally obtained. Thus, a state (bonus game) advantageous to the player can be achieved.

Here, the specific symbols are aligned on a predetermined line (1st to 3rd rows), and it is possible to align the specific symbols by using the line as a reference. Required.

[0005] Such a guide is easy for a skilled person, but difficult for a beginner, and is forced to invest without permission.

[0006] Further, since the line for aligning a specific symbol is always fixed, it is a simple task without expectation for a skilled player, and there is a drawback that the game lacks the taste.

[0007] In view of the above facts, the present invention provides a gaming machine which can make up for the difference in technical level between a beginner and a skilled person, increase the sense of expectation for the skilled person, and give it a taste. That is the purpose.

[0008]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a symbol is changed over a plurality of columns, and it is advantageous for a player on the condition that a specific symbol is aligned in a display window in each column. A gaming machine having a symbol change display function to shift to a gaming state, by providing a shielding portion for the display window,
An area in which the symbol is visible is formed small, and the shielding portion is movable.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, an area smaller than the display window is set as an area in which the symbol can be visually recognized,
The shielding member forming the region is made movable. Thereby, by moving the shielding member, it is possible to change the position at which the symbols are aligned, and even at positions other than the same position, the symbols can be aligned. It becomes easier to arrange the patterns. On the other hand, for the skilled person, the position of aligning the symbols, which has been uniquely determined, is changed, so that it is possible to improve the game taste.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, a position for aligning a specific symbol is changed in the display window in synchronization with the movement of the shielding portion. And

According to the second aspect of the invention, the position where the specific symbol is aligned is synchronized with the shielding member. Thus, if it is determined in advance which region of the display window is to be the region in which the symbol can be viewed, the determined position can be moved as the region in which the symbol can be visually recognized.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, a symbol is changed over a plurality of columns, and a transition to a game state advantageous to a player is made on condition that a specific symbol is arranged in a display window in each column. A gaming machine having a variable display function, based on a specific symbol display position determining means for determining a position where the specific symbol is aligned in the display window, based on the position determined by the specific symbol display position determining means, And a driving unit for controlling the driving unit for driving the shielding unit to drive the shielding unit at a predetermined timing so as to set the specific symbol visible position.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the third aspect of the present invention, the predetermined timing is between immediately before and after the symbol stops changing.

According to the third and fourth aspects of the present invention, the position at which the specific symbol is aligned in the display window is determined by the specific symbol display position determining means.

The shielding member drive control means controls the driving means of the shielding part based on the display position determined by the specific symbol display position determining means to move the shielding part.
This makes it possible to visually recognize the Leo region in which the specific symbols are aligned. In addition, as described in claim 4, the movement timing of the shielding member is set to be between immediately before and after the stop of the fluctuation of the symbol, so that a specific symbol is further developed from a state in which the symbol is likely to be recognized as being out of alignment. Can achieve the effect

[0016]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS (First Embodiment) FIG.
1 shows a pachislot machine 100 as a gaming machine according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

The pachislot machine 100 has an operation surface at the front of the main body 102, and can be classified into a decoration unit 104, a display unit 106, an operation unit 108, and a payout unit 110 from the top.

The decoration section 104 is provided with an illumination member 112 so that a display is transmitted when a lamp is turned on inside. The display unit 106 has a display window 11 at the center thereof.
4 are provided. Inside the display unit 114, a symbol changing unit 116 (see FIG. 3) is provided, and a plurality (three in the first embodiment) of the drums 14 is rotated. Index portions 118 are provided on the left and right of the display window 114 of the display unit 106, and guidely display the state of the symbols (the number of columns and the like) aligned with the display window 114.

The operation unit 108 is used to set a coin insertion unit 120 and a credit function (a function for storing a plurality of coins in the machine to save a coin insertion operation performed every game), a cancel switch 122, 124, Starting lever 2
0, a stop button 18 is provided.

The payout unit 110 includes a coin outlet 126,
And a tray 128 for receiving coins discharged from the coin discharge port 126.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the symbol changing section 116 includes three drums 14 (hereinafter referred to as first
Drum 14A, second drum 14B, third drum 1
4C), and each drum 14
A belt 16 on which a plurality of symbols are evenly arranged is wound around a peripheral surface of the belt to form a closed loop. Here, the rotation of the drum 14 allows the symbols provided on the closed-loop band 16 to be sequentially visible from the display window 114, and the symbol stopped at the central row of the display windows 114 in a row is a basic stop symbol. Becomes In addition, this basic stop symbol is a case where one coin (also called a medal) is invested, and three coins can be invested in a maximum of one game. In this case, the coin is stopped on the ascending and descending lines. The symbols that are stopped and the symbols that are stopped on two diagonal lines are sequentially adopted as combination stopped symbols according to the number of coins invested. As a result, the maximum stop symbol line number becomes five.

As shown in FIG. 3 and FIG.
, That is, a portion corresponding to the display window 114, a shielding member 150 is provided. Shielding member 150
A pair of side surfaces 152 which are opposed to the end surfaces of the left and right drums 14 and are fan-shaped and parallel to each other;
And a shield plate 154 provided between the peripheral surface of the drum 14 and both ends in the width direction are respectively attached to the side surface portions 152 and formed in an arc shape along the peripheral surface of the drum 14. Note that the pair of side portions 152 and the shielding plate 15
4 may be integrally formed (such as resin molding).

The shielding plate 154 has a rectangular through hole 156. This through-hole 156 is formed smaller than the display window 114, thereby limiting the number of symbols that can be visually recognized from the display window 114. In the first embodiment, there are 15 symbols (vertical × horizontal = 5 × 3) visible only through the display window 114, whereas the through holes 156
There are 9 symbols (vertical x horizontal = 3 x 3) that can be visually recognized from.

The center of the fan in the pair of side portions 152 is coaxially supported on the rotation axis of the drum 14.
Thereby, the shielding member 150 can rotate around the drum 14 around the rotation axis of the drum 14.

A gear 158 coaxial with the drum 14 is mounted on one of a pair of side surfaces 152 of the shielding member, and meshes with a gear 162 mounted on the rotation shaft of the pulse motor 160. For this reason, the rotation of the pulse motor 160 allows the shielding member 150 to control the position of the rotation around the rotation axis of the drum 14 by the pulse signal of the pulse motor 160. That is, by the pulse control of the pulse motor 160, the symbol row stopped in the area of the display window 114 is set to three.
Each row can be selectively made visible (see FIGS. 5 and 6).

At the lower portion of the symbol variation section 116, each drum 14
The first stop button 18A, the second stop button 18B, the third stop button 18B
Is provided, and the rotation of each of the drums 14A, 14B, 14C can be stopped by the player's intention.

By operating (tilting) a start lever 20 provided on the left side of the stop button 18, each drum 14 starts rotating.

The operation timing of the start lever 20 is the timing of a winning lottery.
In (see FIG. 7), the hit / miss is determined.

Here, when the lottery is a win, the flag is established, and thereafter, when the winning symbols are aligned, the winning becomes a win, which is in a state advantageous to the player. In addition, there are a big hit (big bonus) and a normal hit (regular bonus), and the degree of the state advantageous to the player is different. Naturally, the big bonus is more advantageous than the regular bonus.

As shown in FIG. 7, the main controller 22
Performs the overall control of the pachi-slot machine, includes a coin sensor 24 for determining whether or not a coin has been inserted (invested), and a start lever sensor 26 for determining whether or not the start lever 20 has been operated. , Stop button 14A,
14B and 14C are connected.

The main controller 22 is connected to a payout control unit 28, a first drum rotation control unit 30, a second drum rotation control unit 32, and a third drum rotation control unit 34. The first drum 14A, the second drum 14B, the third drum 14
Motors 42, 44 and 46 for rotating C are connected. Further, a shielding member positioning controller 164 is connected to the main controller 22, and is connected to the pulse motor 160 via a driver 166.

The pulse motor 160 operates by receiving a pulse signal (the number of pulses) set by the shielding member positioning controller 164 based on the position of the hit symbol determined by the main controller 20. By the operation of the pulse motor 160, the shielding member 150 is rotated, and the combination of the display window 114 and the through hole 156 determines the visible area of the symbol.

The operation of the present embodiment will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, in step 200, it is determined whether or not the game is valid, that is, whether or not a coin has been inserted. If the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step 202 to determine whether or not the starting lever sensor 26 has been turned on. Is determined.

If an affirmative determination is made in step 202,
It is determined that the player has operated the starting lever 20, and the process proceeds to step 204.

In step 204, it is determined whether or not the flag F is established. If not, the process proceeds to step 206 to execute a lottery process.

Next, at step 208, it is determined whether or not the lottery result has been won. If it is determined that the winning has been won, the routine proceeds to step 210, where the flag F is established (1), and then to step 212.

Here, if a negative determination is made in step 204, that is, if the flag F is established, it is not necessary to perform a lottery, so that the processing of steps 206, 208, and 210 is not executed, and the process proceeds to step 212. . Further, if it is determined in step 208 that it has been removed, step 2
The process jumps to step 212 by skipping 10 (flag not established).

In step 212, the drum 14 is started, and the routine proceeds to step 214. At this time, the three drums 14 simultaneously rotate at a high speed. In step 214,
It is determined whether or not the stop switch 18A (or 8B, 18C) has been operated.
Then, the process goes to 6 to execute the stop control of the drum 14A (or 14B, 14C) corresponding to the stop button 18A (or 18B, 18C) operated at the appropriate eye-press timing.

In the next step 218, it is determined whether or not all (three) drums 14 have stopped. If the determination is negative, the process returns to step 214, and if the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step 220. In step 220, it is determined whether or not the winning symbols are aligned, and if they are not aligned (see the state of FIG. 5), the process proceeds to step 222. If the winning symbols have been prepared, the process proceeds to step 224.

In step 224, to which a negative determination is made in step 220, the process proceeds to step 224, where it is determined whether or not the winning symbols, including the symbols hidden by the shielding member 150, are completed.
If an affirmative determination is made, the process proceeds to step 226, and the shielding member 150 is moved to a position where a hit symbol can be visually recognized.
A pulse signal (number of pulses) is output so that moves.

In the next step 228, the pulse motor 160 is driven based on the output pulse signal,
Move to step 220. Thereby, the shielding member 15
0 rotates around the rotation axis of the drum 14, and the through hole 156
With the combination of and the display window 114, it is possible to make the winning symbol visible (see the state of FIG. 6).
Therefore, when the process proceeds from step 228 to step 220, an affirmative determination is made thereafter, and the process proceeds to step 224.

In step 224, the flag F is reset (returned to not satisfied). In the next step 226, bonus game control is executed.

As described above, in the first embodiment, the shielding member 150 is provided around the drum 14 (at a position facing the display window 114), and the driving force of the pulse motor 160 causes the rotation axis of the drum 14 to be centered. The shield member 15 is rotatable.
When the design area that can be visually recognized is made smaller than the area of the display window 114 by the through-hole 156 of 0, and the hit patterns are aligned in the display window 114 and are shielded by the shielding member 150 (see FIG. 5). By rotating the shielding member 150, the hit symbol is made visible (see the state of FIG. 6), so that the deviation of the pressing timing by a beginner can be covered, and the skilled worker And the difference in technical level can be reduced.

Also, for the skilled person, since the variation of the symbolized pattern can be varied, even if the symbol stops once, it is possible to expect a hit by the rotational movement of the shielding member 150, The taste can be improved.

In the first embodiment, the shielding member 150 is moved after the symbol is stopped. However, it may be not only immediately after the symbol is stopped but also before the symbol is stopped (preferably immediately before). (Second Embodiment) A second embodiment of the present invention will be described below. The same components as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description of the components will be omitted. The overall configuration of the pachislot machine to be applied is the same.

As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the feature of the second embodiment is that the shielding member 150A is slid in the horizontal direction in FIG.

Therefore, in the second embodiment, five drums 14 are provided. The shielding member 150A is formed of an arc or a flat plate, and upper and lower ends thereof are supported by rails 170 having a substantially U-shaped cross section. Therefore, the shielding member 150A can move left and right in FIG. 9 along the rail 170.

The shielding member 150A is provided with a through hole 156A at the center thereof, and the through hole 156A corresponds to the number of symbols on the display window 114 (length × width = 3 × 5 = 15).
The number of symbols visually recognized in 6A is vertical × horizontal = 3 × 3 = 9.

Further, as shown in FIG.
A rack 172 is attached to a part of the 50A (near the lower rail 170), and a gear 174 is attached to its tooth surface.
60, so that the shielding member 150 </ b> A
It moves along 70 and can be positioned at a predetermined position by a designated pulse signal (number of pulses).

For this reason, when the winning symbols are aligned among the 15 symbols, the symbols can be made visible from the display window 114.

According to the second embodiment, the first
Similarly to the embodiment, when the hit symbols are aligned in the area within the display window 114 and the shield member 150A becomes invisible (see the state of FIG. 9), the shield member 15
By moving 0 along the rail 170 in the left-right direction of FIG. 9, the winning symbol can be made visible (see the state of FIG. 12). For this reason, it is possible to reduce the difference in technical level between a beginner and a skilled player, and in particular, to improve the game taste for a skilled person.

In the first and second embodiments, a so-called mechanical structure (rotational structure of the drum 14) is used as a function for displaying symbols, but an electric symbol display such as a liquid crystal display device is used. It may be a function. In this case, the mechanical shielding member 1 applied in the first and second embodiments is used.
50 or 150AA may be applied. For example, in the case of a liquid crystal display device, image display control may be performed so as to display a shielding member as an image.

In the first and second embodiments, a pachislot machine has been described as an example of a gaming machine, but the present invention is also applicable to other gaming machines having a symbol display function, such as a pachinko machine. (Third Embodiment) Hereinafter, as an application example of a game machine other than the pachislot machine, an example in which the present invention is applied to a pachinko machine will be described with reference to FIGS. The same components as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description is omitted.

FIG. 13 shows a game board 311 of a pachinko machine 310 according to the third embodiment. The area surrounded by the arc-shaped rail 312 in the game board 311 is a gauge section 314 which is a game area.

A plurality of nails 316 are driven into the gauge portion 314 over the entire surface (only the main portion is shown in FIG. 13). It falls while being guided by the guide path formed by 316. Further, in addition to the nail 316, the gauge part 314
A windmill 318 is attached at a position symmetrical to the left and right to turn the pachinko ball in an unexpected direction.

Further, winning holes 320 are provided at a plurality of positions in the gauge section 314, and a predetermined number of pachinko balls are paid out to the player by inserting pachinko balls into the winning holes 320.

The gauge part 314 is substantially symmetrical with respect to the right and left, and a central part 322
Are arranged, and the symbol variation section 116 is exposed.
This symbol changing unit 116 is the same as that of the first embodiment, but may be that of the second embodiment.

Below the symbol change section 116, a special symbol start winning port 326 for starting the accessory unit is provided. The special symbol start winning opening 326 has a start winning sensor 30 corresponding to the start lever sensor 26 in the pachislot machine.
0 is provided.

Below the special symbol starting winning opening 326, a big winning opening 328 is arranged.
2. A configuration in which a so-called winning display state in the symbol changing section 116 (a pattern visually viewed from the through hole 156 of the shielding member 150 in the display window 114) is opened for a predetermined time to allow a large amount of pachinko balls to be won. Has become.

The gauge section 314 is provided with an ordinary symbol start winning port 330 and an ordinary symbol display section 332 capable of displaying a single digit number from 0 to 9. When the pachinko ball wins, the display of the normal symbol display section 332 fluctuates, and when a predetermined winning number is reached,
The electric tulip 334 provided in the special symbol starting winning opening 326 is opened for a predetermined time. By opening the electric tulip 334, the probability of winning in the special symbol starting winning opening 326 is physically increased.

Below the gauge section 314, there is provided a panel 340 provided with a handle 336 as a firing device and a receiving tray 338 for receiving a pachinko ball on the front side. The handle 336 is attached to a rotation shaft protruding from the inside of the panel 340, and is rotatable about this rotation shaft. That is, when the player grips and rotates the handle 336, the firing device operates and the firing intensity is set based on the rotation angle. Note that a return urging force is applied to this rotation, and the player automatically returns to the original rotation position when the player releases his / her hand.

In the pachinko machine 210, a start winning sensor 300 is provided in place of the start lever sensor 26 (see FIG. 7) of the pachislot machine, and a win or passing timing of the pachinko ball detected by the start winning sensor 300 is provided. And a lottery is executed.

That is, as shown in FIG. 14, the main controller 20 executes a lottery at the timing of generation of the detection signal by the start winning sensor 300, and selects a pattern of a symbol display mode.

In the case of the pachinko machine, the coin sensor 24 and the stop buttons 18A, 18 in the pachislot machine are used.
The configurations of B, 18C (see FIGS. 1, 2, and 7) are omitted, and the operation of the player by the respective stop buttons 18A, 18B, 18C is substituted by the timer unit 600 shown in FIG. 28 (see FIG. 7) controls the payout of pachinko balls.

As shown in FIG.
Has a plurality of subtraction timers (not shown) corresponding to the symbol groups in each row of each drum 14, and the main controller 20 controls the timer section 600 based on the detection signal generation of the start winning sensor 300. While the motors 42, 44,
The stop timing of 46 is configured.

Note that a liquid crystal display device may be used instead of the drum 14.

[0068]

As described above, the gaming machine according to the present invention can make up for the difference in technical level between a beginner and a skilled person, and can also increase the sense of expectation for the skilled person and give it a taste. It has an excellent effect of being able to.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an appearance of a pachislot machine according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a front view of a symbol fluctuating portion and its periphery of the pachislot machine according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a symbol changing section (including a partially developed view of a band displayed as a symbol).

FIG. 4 is a side sectional view of a symbol changing section according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a front view of a symbol visually recognized from a display window according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a front view of a symbol visually recognized from a display window when the shielding member is moved with respect to FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a control block diagram according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a control flowchart according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a front view of a symbol visually recognized from a display window according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view taken along line XX of FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of a driving unit according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a front view of a symbol visually recognized from the display window after the movement of the shielding member with respect to FIG. 9;

FIG. 13 is a front view of a pachinko machine according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a control block diagram of a pachinko machine according to a third embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 14 Drum 16 Strip 18 Stop button 22 Main controller 114 Display window 116 Symbol changing part 150 Shielding member 152 Shielding plate 154 Side plate 156 Through hole 160 Pulse motor

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A game provided with a symbol variation display function for shifting a symbol in a plurality of columns and shifting to a gaming state advantageous to a player on condition that a specific symbol is arranged in a display window in each column. A gaming machine, wherein a shield portion is provided for the display window to form a small area in which the symbol can be viewed, and the shield portion is movable. 2. The gaming machine according to claim 1, wherein a position at which a specific symbol is aligned is changed in the display window in synchronization with the movement of the shielding portion. 3. A game provided with a symbol variation display function of changing symbols over a plurality of columns and shifting to a gaming state advantageous to a player on condition that specific symbols are aligned in a display window in each column. A specific symbol display position determining unit that determines a position where the specific symbol is aligned in the display window; and a driving unit that drives the shielding unit based on the position determined by the specific symbol display position determining unit. A gaming machine comprising: a shielding unit driving control unit that controls a unit to drive the shielding unit at a predetermined timing to set the specific symbol visible position. 4. The gaming machine according to claim 3, wherein the predetermined timing is between immediately before and after the symbol stops changing.