JP2001347046A - Game machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a game machine constituted to minimize the design change of a power source part and to easily divert power source related parts from other machine types even with a change in the number of required power source output parts and the change of supply voltage constitution in designing a new machine type or changing specifications. SOLUTION: The storage contents of a register (a first storage means) not supplied with electric power in an auxiliary manner at the occurrence of abnormality is backed up by an evacuation area 595 of a RAM 152 supplied with electric power in an auxiliary manner at the occurrence of abnormality. The RAM 152 includes a prize ball-dispensed ball data storage region 591 for storing prize ball data and dispensed ball data, a game data storage region 596 for storing a control program for establishing a game mode, data related to various game modes and the like, an abnormality deterministic information storage region on whether abnormality has occurred, a stack pointer storage region 593 for storing a stack pointer, and the backup evacuation area 595 for storing the contents of the register and a program counter.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a game machine such as a so-called seven machine, a blade, a right object, a ball game machine such as an arrangement ball, and a coin-type game machine such as a slot machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a game machine such as a ball game machine, when an abnormality such as an unexpected power failure occurs and power is cut off, a control device is suddenly stopped and stored by then. In some cases, all the accumulated game data such as the winning ball data and the result of the non-start suspension status may disappear.

[0003]

In the above case, even if the supply of power is restarted by turning on the power again, the game cannot be started from the game state at the time of the occurrence of the abnormality, and as a result, the player is notified of the occurrence of the abnormality. Has been unable to compensate. In order to prevent such a problem, an object of the present invention is to provide a gaming machine that can easily and reliably perform a memory protection process when an abnormality occurs, a memory restoration process after an abnormality recovery, and the like. I do.

[0004]

Means for Solving the Problems and Action / Effect To solve the above problems, a gaming machine of the present invention monitors first power supply means, power supply of the first power supply means, and supplies power. Power monitoring means for determining the presence or absence of an abnormality in the power supply;
A power supply unit, a first storage unit that does not compensate for the retention of storage information when an abnormality occurs, a second storage unit that compensates for the retention of storage information when an abnormality occurs, Information transfer means for transferring information stored in the first storage means to the second storage means.

[0005] In the above-described gaming machine, when an abnormality such as a power failure occurs, the storage information stored in the storage means can be reliably stored and backed up.
In particular, the configuration is such that the information stored in the first storage means is transferred to the second storage means according to the presence or absence of an abnormality, so that the information stored in the first storage means is securely stored and held in the second storage means when an abnormality occurs. can do. Further, after the recovery from the abnormality such as a power failure, the recovery processing can be performed by referring to the storage information of the second storage means transferred from the first storage means, so that the recovery processing can be performed simply and accurately. Becomes For example, if the information stored in the first storage means is game state information indicating a game state, it is possible to perform an abnormality recovery process based on the game state information. The power monitoring means monitors the power supply with reference to the power amount from the first power supply means, and when the power amount falls below a predetermined value, transmits the abnormality occurrence signal to the information transfer means. And the information transfer means executes a process of transferring the information stored in the first storage means to the second storage means based on the abnormality occurrence signal.
Further, the information transfer is performed by a control unit (mainly constituted by a CPU) as information transfer means based on a predetermined information transfer execution program for transferring information.

[0006] The game state information may be, for example, control program information defined by a game control program that enables establishment of a game mode. In this case, when an abnormality occurs, the control program information stored in the first storage means is transferred to the second storage means,
After the abnormal return, the game control can be accurately returned based on the control program information. When the control program information at the time of occurrence of the abnormality is stored and maintained as it is, after the recovery from the abnormality, it is possible to immediately return to the same gaming state as at the time of occurrence of the abnormality.

Further, the second storage means stores game medium information for establishing a game mode, and when an abnormality occurs, the control program information and the game medium information are stored in the second storage means. Things. That is, for example, at normal time when no abnormality occurs, game medium information for establishing a game mode is stored in the second storage means, and when an abnormality occurs, the game medium information stored in the second storage means at the time of occurrence is stored. While being held, the control program information stored in the first storage means is transferred to the second storage means by the information transfer means and stored and held. Therefore, when an abnormality such as a power failure occurs, the control program information and the game medium information stored in the first storage means and the second storage means are reliably stored and held.

[0008] The game medium information stored in the second storage means may be, for example, value medium information. Since the value media information is directly related to the interests of the player, the storage retention is compensated in the event of an abnormality.
It is desirable to store in the storage means. The value medium information includes at least game ball distribution information related to the distribution of game balls, and may specifically include prize ball information and / or ball rental information. Note that the control program information stored in the first storage means is defined by a game control program that defines the environment of the game mode, and the game medium information stored in the second storage means is stored in the environment of the game mode. It happens with chance. Further, while the game control program is information defined in advance, the game medium information can be regarded as information of an occurrence (post-event) event.

The first storage means can be, for example, a register. In this case, the registers include, for example, an accumulator and a data register used for temporarily holding data, a control address register, an instruction register, an index register, a status register, an interrupt register, and the like. The register is, for example, an element built in the CPU that controls the gaming machine. When an abnormality occurs in the power supply and the power supply amount becomes equal to or less than a predetermined value, the stored information is erased. It is desirable to transfer, for example, address data or the like relating to control at the time to the second storage means. In addition, when an abnormality such as a power failure occurs, for example, a memory such as a RAM that can be stored and held by the auxiliary power supply from the second power supply unit can be used as the second storage unit.

Next, abnormality detection information indicating the presence or absence of an abnormality can be stored in the second storage means. In this case, when the power of the gaming machine is turned on, it is possible to confirm the presence or absence of the abnormality detection information in the second storage means, and to perform the abnormality recovery processing only when the abnormality detection information is present.

On the other hand, the above-mentioned gaming machine of the present invention comprises a main control section for controlling the gaming machine, and a value medium payout control section which operates in accordance with the main control section and controls the value medium payout. The value medium payout control unit may include the first storage unit and the second storage unit. Further, it is possible to supply the supply power of the second power supply unit to the value medium delivery control unit via the main control unit. In this case, the storage information related to the dispensing of the value medium in the value medium dispensing control unit is securely retained when an abnormality occurs, and the value medium related control unit is assisted from the second power supply unit via the main control unit. Since electric power is supplied, it is also possible to store and hold information stored in the main control unit that controls the gaming machine when an abnormality occurs.

In the present specification, the abnormality is an abnormality in which the power supply voltage of the gaming machine is reduced due to, for example, a power failure, an instantaneous interruption, or other factors, and in this case, the power monitoring means determines that the specific abnormality has occurred. , A drop in the power supply voltage due to a power failure or the like is detected.

According to the present invention, the game information storage and holding process (backup process) is not started unconditionally by using the fault detection output (signal) as a direct start command, but the power monitoring means detects the fault. Is detected, abnormality detection information is generated in accordance with the detection result, this is stored (for example, written) in the abnormality confirmation information storage means (for example, the second storage means), and is stored in the abnormality confirmation information. In a corresponding form, storage control (backup storage control) for storing and holding the game information reflecting the game state at the time of occurrence of the abnormality in the second storage means can be performed. According to this, when an original abnormality such as power interruption occurs, the abnormality detection information is stored along with the occurrence of the abnormality detection output. On the other hand, the abnormality detection output does not occur at the time of program runaway or the like. Information is not stored.
Therefore, when returning from an abnormality, by using this abnormality detection information as a mark, the recovery processing of the game information can be correctly executed only when a predetermined specific abnormality has occurred, and by extension The normal operation of the later gaming machine can be guaranteed.

The value medium dispensing control section includes a power-on mode, a normal mode in which no abnormality occurs, and an abnormality mode. In the power-on mode, the second storage means is provided. A memory confirmation unit for confirming whether or not the memory is held; and initializing the first memory and the second memory when the memory is not held, and holding the memory when the memory is held. (1) The initialization means for initializing the storage means operates, and in the normal mode, the normal processing means for performing processing relating to the payout of the value medium operates, and in the abnormality occurrence mode, the second power supply operates. The supply means may operate the information transfer means and the storage and holding means for storing and holding the game medium information and the abnormality detection information.

As described above, the mode is divided in the value medium payout control section, and the control contents are set in three operation modes in accordance with the mutually incompatible states of the gaming machine. , And control at the time of recovery from an abnormality can be performed simply and reliably. further,
The control specifications can be easily classified, and the work of applying for a license to a third-party testing organization and the work of technical verification after the application can be easily performed. In addition, when the abnormality occurs, the interrupt signal having the highest priority is transmitted from the main control unit to the value medium payout control unit, and in the abnormality occurrence mode, all the registers in the value medium payout control unit are saved. It is also possible to store the control program information before the interrupt signal is transmitted.

On the other hand, the first power supply unit includes an input unit for a received voltage, a voltage conversion unit for converting the received voltage into a plurality of different power voltages, and a power voltage output unit for outputting the converted power voltage. A power supply unit having a plurality of power supply units, a voltage input unit provided separately from the power supply unit and receiving a plurality of power supply voltages output from the power supply voltage output unit of the power supply unit, And a power supply voltage output unit formed individually corresponding to the power supply voltages and having a plurality of output terminals distributed therein for at least one of the power supply voltages. And a distribution board having the same.

According to this configuration, a plurality of power supply voltages required for the gaming machine are generated at a time by the voltage converter of the power supply unit, and the power supply voltage output section of the power distribution board provided independently of the power supply unit. Since the power supply voltage from the power supply unit has been distributed to various parts of the game machine, even if the number of power supply output units and power supply voltage configuration required for new model design or specification change change, only power distribution board specifications Just change it,
It is possible to minimize the design change of the first power supply means. The power distribution board is desirably detachably mounted to a predetermined mounting target portion (for example, a back mechanism panel of a game machine) in consideration of ease of design change and convenience of component replacement.

[0018] The voltage converter of the power supply unit may convert the AC receiving voltage into a plurality of DC power supply voltages. The AC receiving voltage can be, for example, 24 VAC, and the converted DC power supply voltage can be, for example, 32 VDC (in the case of a ball-and-play game machine, it can be used as a solenoid drive voltage for an accessory, etc.), 24 VDC (also the torque for the firing device). Can be used as a drive voltage for a motor), 12 V DC (similarly, can be used as a drive voltage for a motor for a prize ball dispensing device or other analog control voltage), 5 V DC
(Which can be used as a drive voltage for digital control). Any of them can be generated as a rectified, smoothed, etc. power supply voltage, and further as a + or-unipolar or bipolar power supply voltage according to the purpose.

Next, a power supply voltage output section of the power distribution board is connected to one or more power supplies used in each board for connecting a plurality of control boards for directly or indirectly controlling the operation of the gaming machine. A board-side connector that combines voltage output terminals
A plurality can be provided corresponding to the number of substrates to be connected.
According to this configuration, a power supply unit (first power supply unit) for generating a required power supply voltage for each substrate is not separately provided, but various power supply voltages generated by one power supply unit are divided. Since the substrates are unitarily distributed to the respective substrates, the number of power supply units can be reduced.
In addition, when a third party verifies a gaming machine, when verifying the power supply related parts, the technical manual of the distribution board (including drawings, etc.) and the identification characters (part model name and voltage value) displayed on the board And the like, it is possible to determine at a glance what power supply voltage is required for each substrate.

The power distribution board has at least one of a plurality of control boards (including the control board constituting the main control section and the value medium payout control section) connected thereto.
In order to protect the board components from overcurrent, a current cutoff mechanism that cuts off when the output current of the specific voltage supplied to the control board becomes excessive may be provided.
It is effective that the current interruption mechanism is provided on a control board to which a large current load is connected, for example, a control board to which a motor is connected. In this case, the current cutoff mechanism cuts off the output current of the motor driving voltage when it becomes excessive.

As the current interrupting mechanism, a switch type breaker mechanism can be used. However, a current interrupting mechanism including a current interrupting fuse is advantageous in that it is simple and inexpensive. By the way, conventionally, such a fuse is provided individually for each control board in order to limit the operation of only the electric device in which the abnormality has occurred. However, in recent years, the control board has often been covered with a cover means to prevent unauthorized alteration. For example, in order to make it easier to confirm the presence or absence of fraud, such a cover means intentionally leaves a trace on the appearance accompanying the removal operation so as to be able to identify that the removal operation has been performed. It is increasingly being configured as something. More specifically, the opening and closing portion of the cover is sealed with a paper tape that is easily cut when the cover is opened or closed, or a tape with a peeling detection function in which an image (for example, a holographic image) or a character appears on the tape surface when peeled off. The cover is attached by a so-called one-way screw at the screwed portion integrated via the cut connection portion formed on the cover body, and the cut connection portion is cut to separate the cover body and the screw portion. There is a configuration in which the cover is removed in the form.

In this case, if a fuse is attached to the control board, it is necessary to remove the cover when replacing a blown fuse. Become. Therefore, when reattaching the cover after replacing the fuse, it is necessary to perform an operation of returning to a state without a trace, which is very troublesome. Therefore, the fuse should be provided on the power distribution board, and if there is no cover means or even if the cover means is provided,
By using a cover that does not cause intentional traces to remain during the removal operation, the fuse can be easily replaced without removing the cover on the control board side. The control board according to the present invention is used to mainly operate signal timings and combinations such as a buffer component and a latch component in addition to a board on which primary electronic components such as a CPU, a RAM, and a ROM are mounted. A substrate on which the secondary electronic components are mounted, and a capacitor,
It includes a substrate on which only tertiary electronic components such as resistors and other so-called discrete components are mounted.

Hereinafter, a description will be given of a series of invention requirements that can be added to the case where the gaming machine of the present invention is configured as a ball-and-ball gaming machine. For example, a gaming machine according to the present invention includes a prize ball detection unit that detects a prize ball, and a prize ball number information generation unit that generates prize ball number information that is information on the number of prize balls to be paid out based on a prize ball detection signal. Prize ball payout control means (value medium payout control unit) for causing the prize ball payout mechanism to pay out a predetermined number of prize balls based on the generated prize ball number information.
A payout prize ball detection mechanism for detecting the payout of a prize ball by the prize ball payout control means; a prize ball number information generated by the prize ball number information generation means; Prize ball payout management means for managing the prize ball payout by the prize ball payout mechanism based on the detection information.

In the configuration of the above-mentioned ball game machine, a prize ball to be paid out is provided on the gaming board, and a prize hole is provided. Based on the ball detection signal, the number of prize balls to be paid out is generated as information. A predetermined number of prize balls corresponding to each winning opening are paid out according to the prize ball number information, the number of prize balls paid out is detected, and the prize ball number information and the actually paid out prize ball number are detected. I am trying to confirm.

In conventional ball game machines, the payout of prize balls is confirmed as follows. That is, a safe ball collecting gutter is connected to each of the winning ports, and the lower ends of these safe ball collecting gutters are gathered in a safe ball large collecting gutter formed in a funnel shape. At the lower end, a unitized winning re-detection processing means such as a winning ball discharging solenoid, a winning ball detecting lever, and a winning ball detecting switch is provided. The winning balls entering each of the winning ports are guided to the safe ball large collecting gutter, and when the winning ball number data of a predetermined number of payout balls are transmitted, the winning balls are paid out, and with the completion of the winning ball payout. Upon receiving the payout completion signal, the winning ball discharge solenoid is deactivated / excited to discharge one winning ball.

On the other hand, according to the above-mentioned ball game machine,
Since the number of prize balls can be paid out based only on the input of the prize ball detection signal from the prize ball detection processing means provided corresponding to the prize port provided on the game board, the above-described conventional prize ball payout system The winning ball re-detection processing means constituting one device becomes unnecessary, and the number of parts can be reduced. Since the winning ball re-detection processing means is constituted by a mechanical mechanism having a large number of components as described above, the occurrence of a failure can be reduced by omitting the mechanism. Further, the third-party inspection organization can relatively easily inspect the ball-and-ball game machine, and can shorten the inspection time. For example, according to the above-described ball game machine, the mechanism of the prize ball re-detection processing is not required, so that the prize ball detected by the prize ball detection unit in response to the ball entering the prize port is detected again thereafter. It can be collected with the out ball without being caught. The prize ball payout managing means may determine that the payout of the prize ball is completed when the detected number of payout spheres reaches the number of prize balls to be paid out. This is a reasonable alternative to the prize ball payout confirmation process.

More specifically, the prize ball payout management means includes a total prize ball number storage means for storing the total number of prize balls to be paid out, and every time a prize ball is detected, the corresponding prize ball number is totaled. The prize ball number adding means for adding to the total prize ball number stored in the ball number storage means, and the paid out prize balls number is stored in the total prize ball number storage means based on the detection information of the payout prize balls. Prize ball number subtraction means for subtracting from the total prize ball number, and manages whether or not the payout of the prize ball is completed based on the total prize ball number stored in the total prize ball number storage means. Things.

In an actual gaming machine, a prize ball often occurs continuously rather than spontaneously (particularly at the time of a big hit, etc.). Often occurs.
In this case, as described above, the number of prize balls of the prize balls for which the prize ball payout has not been completed is stored in a pooled form as the total number of prize balls, and when a new prize ball is generated, this is handled. While the number of awarded balls is added to the total number of awarded balls, the number of paid out awarded balls changes every moment if the number of awarded balls is subtracted from the total number of awarded balls based on detection information of the awarded balls. A) The total number of prize balls can be accurately grasped, and delays in paying out prize balls due to troubles such as clogged balls can be quickly detected.

In the above-mentioned gaming machine, the main control section functions as prize ball number information generating means and prize ball payout management means, and the value medium payout control section (frame control section) functions as prize ball payout control means. The prize ball number information from the main control unit is transferred to the frame control unit in one direction, and the frame control unit causes the prize ball payout mechanism to pay out prize balls based on the prize ball number information. On the other hand, it is possible to adopt a configuration in which detection information of a payout prize ball from a payout prize ball detection mechanism attached to the prize ball payout mechanism is transmitted to the main control unit.

In a conventional gaming machine, with respect to the generation of a payout prize ball generated upon detection of a prize, fundamental factors which require a prize ball re-detection process for confirming a prize ball payout are as follows. Depends on the background. In other words, in many gaming machines, a command for paying out a predetermined number of prize balls by receiving a prize detection is performed by a main control unit that controls the operation processing of the entire gaming machine, but in order to reduce the processing load, The actual operation of the prize ball payout in response to the prize ball payout command and controlling the execution operation of the prize ball payout is performed by a frame control unit (payout control unit) different from the main control unit. Has become. That is, the control subject of the prize ball payout command and the control subject of the execution of the prize ball payout are formed separately.

In this case, in order to check whether or not the instructed prize ball payout is actually executed, the frame control unit returns a payout completion signal to the main control unit as the prize ball payout is completed. It can be said that the method is the most rational and easy to understand method. However, when such two-way communication between the main control unit and the frame control unit is performed, the signal transmission system becomes complicated,
There is a problem that a lot of time and labor is required for the test operation of the gaming machine.

Therefore, conventionally, the operation of the winning ball discharge solenoid included in the above-mentioned winning ball re-detection processing mechanism is controlled by the frame control unit, and when the prize ball payout is completed, the frame control unit operates the solenoid. Encourage the prize balls to be discharged. And
When the winning ball is discharged, the winning ball detection switch connected to the main control unit is activated, and the main control unit confirms the payout of the winning ball. That is, instead of performing direct signal transmission from the frame control unit to the main control unit, the main control unit was made to recognize the completion of the prize ball payout through the mechanical movement of the winning ball by the operation of the solenoid. is there. However, as described above, this mechanism has a complicated mechanism for detecting a winning ball again, which leads to a rise in the price of a gaming machine. In addition, the direct confirmation of the prize ball payout can only be performed by the frame control unit, but this is incorrectly confirmed by the influence of noise or the like, and if the solenoid malfunctions, the main control unit There is no way of recognizing the prize ball, and as a result, a problem occurs in which the payout of the prize ball is not performed normally.

In the present invention, as described above, when the control sharing is divided between the main control unit and the frame control unit, as described above, the payout prize ball detection mechanism (not controlled by the frame control unit) receives The payout prize ball detection information is transmitted to the main control unit. Since the payout prize ball detection mechanism itself only needs to detect the spatial movement of the ball accompanying payout, for example, as described later, a rotation sensor (angle sensor) including a payout cam, a limit switch, a proximity sensor, or an optical sensor. A known sensor such as a sensor can be easily configured as a prize ball payout sensor. The main control unit can more directly detect the flow of the prize ball payout based on the signal from the payout prize ball detection mechanism, so that the prize ball payout can always be accurately grasped.

In the above-mentioned ball game machine, preferably, a specific number of prize balls is defined as a unique prize ball number corresponding to each winning port, and the prize ball payout control means comprises: A prize ball number command output means for outputting a prize ball number setting signal corresponding to the winning ball detection signal in the input order of the detection signal, and corresponding to the prize ball number setting signal in the input order of the prize ball number setting signal. Unique prize ball number data storage means for storing and storing the unique prize ball number data to be read, and read out the unique prize ball number data stored and stored in the unique prize ball number data means in order from the one stored first. The payout mechanism pays out a corresponding number of prize balls in the reading order.

In the above arrangement, the prize ball payout control means sequentially determines the number of corresponding prize balls (the number of unique prize balls) with respect to the prize ball payout means in accordance with the order in which the winning balls finally entering each winning port are detected. Since the payout control is performed, the player can easily know how many prize balls have been obtained. Therefore, the transparency of the game to the player can be secured.

In the electronic control device of the ball-and-ball game machine, when the ball enters each winning port, a predetermined number of prize balls to be paid out in accordance with the prize ball detection signal output from the prize ball detection section is set in the main control section. The data is temporarily stored and transmitted to the frame control unit as prize ball number data. For this reason, the main control unit needs a buffer for storing a certain number of winning balls in the order of winning. At this time, using a storage capacity of 1 byte (8 bits) as the minimum unit of the storage capacity, a predetermined number of prize ball number data corresponding to each winning opening is temporarily stored in the order in which the prize is won, and the frame control is performed. The storage capacity of one byte (8 bits) is released each time a prize ball is paid out in the section.

However, usually, the main control unit secures a work area for the current main program, and the area for supplying a buffer area other than the work area to the buffer is limited. Therefore, when the frequency of winning balls entering the winning opening increases, for example, a large winning opening has a predetermined time (for example, about 30 seconds) or a predetermined number (for example, 10).
For example, when the game ball is released until the game ball enters, the amount of prize ball number data to be stored increases and the storage capacity of the buffer becomes insufficient.

Therefore, the unique prize ball number data corresponding to the prize ball number setting signal includes a fixed number of data bits, and the combination of the data bits corresponds one-to-one with the number of prize balls to be paid out. It may be stored in the form of a set of bits. Since the prize ball number data corresponding to the prize ball number setting signal is stored and stored in the prize ball number data storage means for each preset bit unit,
You can use a relatively small amount of memory,
The effect on other memories can be minimized.

As one of the preferred modes, the unique prize ball number data storage means stores a bit set from one side in the input order with respect to a column of bit storage cells formed in series. When extracting a predetermined number of data bits from the other side of the stored bit string,
This can be a bit set indicating the number of unique prize balls to be paid out.

By setting the bit set to less than 1 byte, for example, to set the number of bits to any one of 1, 2, and 4 that is a divisor of 8, a plurality of bit sets are stored in a 1-byte buffer. Can be stored without occurring. As a result, the concept that the minimum unit of the storage capacity stored in the buffer is 1 byte is wiped out, and a predetermined bit set previously set as the storage means of the award ball number data is used as the minimum unit of the storage capacity. By having the storage capacity of the buffer area used greatly increased,
Even if the award ball number data amount to be stored temporarily increases, the storage capacity is not insufficient.

The number of bits included in the bit set is preferably 2 bits. By using these 2 bits as prize ball number data to be paid out, the storage capacity of the 1-byte buffer is quadrupled. Can be used. This 2
When the bit is the minimum unit of the storage capacity, a predetermined number of winning ball number data is represented by two bits. For example, if the number of payout prize balls is 6, “01b”, if the number of payout prize balls is 10, “10b”, and the number of payout prize balls is 1
If there are five, it is "11b". Note that “00b” is
The number of award balls is zero.

In this case, in the unique prize ball number data storage means, a bit set from one side of the serially formed bit storage cell column is stored in the input order, and the stored bit sequence is stored. When a predetermined number of data bits are taken out from the other side, this becomes a bit set representing the number of unique prize balls to be paid out. For example, when the bit set is 2 bits, of the stored bit strings,
If two bits on one side located on the transmission side are extracted, the extracted two bits are information on the number of winning balls to be paid out by the frame control unit, and the remaining bit string is also paid out every two bits. Information on the number of power balls to be awarded is accumulated. Then, in order to transmit the number of prize balls to be paid out next from the main control unit to the frame control unit, the bit string in which the information of the number of prize balls is accumulated is sequentially shifted to the transmission side every two bits and transferred. I do. Instead of transferring the bit string for each bit set, a storage area is separately set in the buffer, the bit string to be shifted to this area is temporarily saved, and the bit string is shifted to the original buffer area. The returning process can be performed by block transfer.

Based on the winning ball number data transmitted from the main control unit to the frame control unit, the winning ball number is paid out from the winning ball payout mechanism. The cam located below the winning ball payout mechanism is provided. A payout prize ball detection mechanism equipped with a prize ball payout sensor is installed on the axis, and when a prize ball is paid out with the rotation of the cam, the number of prize balls by the sensor output from the prize ball payout sensor attached to the cam shaft. Is detected. This detection information is collated with the winning ball number data transmitted from the main control unit to the frame control unit, for example, on the frame control unit side, and plays a role of determining whether or not the prize ball payout based on the detection information is normal.

When the number of winning balls is paid out based on the instruction of the frame control unit, the above detection information is also input to the main control unit side and stored in the total winning ball number storage means of the main control unit. The number of paid out prize balls will be subtracted from the total number of awarded balls. For example, when the prize ball payout sensor is a rotary encoder, if one pulse output by detecting the slit of the rotary encoder corresponds to one prize ball, a total of one pulse output signal from the rotary encoder is output. The remaining ball counter of the total number of prize balls, which is the prize ball number storage means, is decremented by one.

In the gaming machine of the present invention, a predetermined advantageous gaming state is obtained based on the following control units provided in the gaming machine, that is, a game ball winning detection process and a specific winning detection. And at least one of the winning / rejection determination processing of performing a lottery / determination of a winning / losing between a winning state and a non-winning state in which the advantageous gaming state cannot be obtained. The main control unit transmits control command information to the receiving control unit that controls the overall operation of the gaming machine, and is connected to the transmitting control unit so that only one-way communication from the transmitting control unit is possible. And a frame control unit that performs at least control of the prize ball discharging operation by receiving one of the prize ball discharge command information as control command information and one direction from the transmission side control unit. Only communication is possible Are tied with the sending device controller to,
By forming one of the receiving-side control units and receiving image control command information as control command information, at least display control for changing and stopping a plurality of symbols on the variable display device provided on the game board is performed. At least one of the display control unit and the backup at the time of occurrence of abnormality (memory retention)
It may be an execution control unit.

In the above arrangement, the control unit of the gaming machine is constituted by a main control unit as a transmission control unit, a frame control unit as a reception control unit connected by one-way communication from the main control unit, and a display control unit. The control of the prize ball payout is performed by the frame control unit, the display control of the variable display device is performed by the display control unit, and at least one of the three control units is controlled by the backup execution control. Department. The backup (storage retention) process of the game information by the backup execution control unit is to be executed in the form of an interrupt process which is executed preferentially with respect to another interrupt process for the backup execution control unit. Is desirable.

According to this, since the control command from the main control section flows in a limited form in one direction, the control of the entire complicated game machine can be quickly performed, and the inspection and the like can be performed. By making the backup process of the game information in the form of a priority interrupt process, the following specific effects are produced in combination with the above-described one-way control command transmission mode. First, the main control unit does not receive any interrupt command or the like from at least the receiving side control unit. Therefore, if this is used as a backup execution control unit, when the backup process is executed by the interrupt process, a conflicting interrupt is performed. Is inherently less susceptible to the processing Therefore, if priority is given to the interrupt processing related to the backup processing, it is possible to more quickly and surely respond to an abnormality such as a power failure,
As a result, loss of game information can be more reliably prevented. On the other hand, the receiving-side control unit is placed in an environment where it is easy to receive an interrupt command or the like from the main control unit. Therefore, in the normal interrupt process, as described above, it is necessary to wait until the previous interrupt process ends, The backup process is forcibly interrupted by another interrupt process, and the completion of the backup process is delayed. For example, at the time of a power failure or the like, a failure such as a failure in backing up the game information tends to occur. However, by giving priority to the interrupt processing related to the backup processing as described above, the completion of the backup processing can be hastened even in the receiving side control unit where the processing system is easily congested, and the backup fails (loss of game information). Such problems can be avoided very effectively. In this case, if the interrupt processing routine is executed in the form of an interrupt process that cannot be disabled by a program by receiving an interrupt signal at a predetermined interrupt request terminal, the above-described effect can be obtained. Is further enhanced.

[0048]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings. Here, a first-type pachinko machine (ball game machine) of a type called a so-called seven machine is taken as an example of a ball game machine, and the structure thereof will be described with reference to FIGS.

The front part of the pachinko machine 1 comprises a main body frame 2, a middle frame 3, a front frame 4, an upper plate 5, a lower plate 6, and a locking device 7. The body frame 2 is formed by assembling and fixing a wooden plate-like body into a substantially rectangular frame shape. The middle frame 3 is entirely made of plastic, has a frame portion (not shown) and a lower plate portion (not shown), and is fitted and attached to the inner peripheral side of the main body frame 2.

Here, the frame portion is moved downward from the upper end by approximately 2/3.
It is formed in a substantially rectangular frame shape, and has a prize ball display LED (not shown) and a prize ball display LED board 4d on the left side at the upper end corresponding to the frame decoration lamp lens 4b of the front frame 4.
(See FIG. 16), a stop display LED (not shown) and a stop display LED board 4f (see FIG. 16) are provided on the right side.

Further, the lower plate portion is approximately 1/3 upward from the lower end.
A speaker that generates sound effects and other sounds (hereinafter referred to as audio information, etc.) according to the game state to correspond to the speaker surface 5a formed on the upper plate portion 5 at the left end (see FIG. 16). A supply device (not shown) for supplying the game balls stored in the upper plate portion 5 to a launch device unit 8 (see FIG. 5) for firing the game balls is provided substantially at the center. . Further, a lower plate 6 is provided below, and a locking device 7 is provided at the center of the right end.

The lower tray 6 is provided with an ashtray, a ball-drawing lever, and the like, is provided with a discharge port 6c for discharging game balls from the inside of the pachinko machine 1, and has a firing handle 9 for operating the firing unit 8 at the right end. Is provided. A touch switch 9a for detecting that the player is touching is mounted on the firing handle 9, and a fire stop switch 9b for temporarily instructing a stop of the fire is arranged near the touch switch 9a. The locking device 7 has a substantially rectangular shape provided with a keyhole when viewed from the front, and is used for locking when the front frame 4 is closed.

The front frame 4 is entirely made of plastic and has a substantially arc-shaped upper side corresponding to the shape of the game area 11 formed on the game board 10 so that the game board 10 can be visually recognized from the front. Has an opening 4a formed in a substantially bullet shape. A substantially rectangular glass frame (not shown) in which a glass plate is fitted according to the opening 4a is mounted on the back surface. The front frame 4 occupies 2/3 of the entire front of the pachinko machine 1 and is pivotally mounted on the left end of the middle frame 3 so as to be openable and closable. Further, a frame decoration lamp lens 4b is provided at the upper end, and inside the lens 4b, along a circular arc portion at the upper end of the opening 4a, a frame decoration lamp substrate 4g (see FIG. 16) and a plurality of games. An effect lamp (not shown) is provided.

The upper plate 5 is pivotally attached to the left end of the middle frame 3 below the front frame 4 so as to be openable and closable. Dish outer edge 5
In d, a ball removal button, a game ball lending / returning button, and the like are provided. Further, an outlet 5c for discharging game balls from the inside of the pachinko machine 1 is provided. A speaker surface 5a having a plurality of long holes is formed on the left end, and a volume switch board 12 (see FIG. 16) is provided on the back surface. On the left end side of the pachinko machine 1, a prepaid card unit 13 is mounted.

Next, the surface structure of the game board 10 of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The game board 10 is a substantially rectangular wooden plate-like body which is held by the middle frame 3 (see FIG. 1), and whose back side is covered by a back mechanism board 102 (see FIG. 5) described later. A substantially circular game area 11 is formed on the game board 10 by an outer rail 14 and an inner rail 15 provided on the surface of the game board 10.
1, a special symbol display device 16, a first-type starting port (ordinary electric accessory) 17, a variable winning device 18, and a left winning port 1
9, right winning opening 20, lower left winning opening 21, lower right winning opening 22
And a number of obstacle nails 23 and a pair of lamp windmills 24 and 25
And so on.

The special symbol display device 16 is arranged substantially at the center of the game area 11, and includes a center accessory 28 and a liquid crystal display panel 29. Here, the liquid crystal display panel 29 is for variably displaying a plurality of types of special symbols (not shown) and the like, and its video screen has a substantially rectangular shape. In addition, the liquid crystal display panel 29 has a game ball having a first-class starting port (ordinary electric accessory).
By entering the ball 17, each special symbol displayed on the video screen is changed and stopped and displayed. Then, for example, when the symbols are stopped and displayed together with the same three-digit symbol of “7, 7, 7”, a large winning device 30 described later provided in the variable winning device 18 is opened. Also,
The center role object 28 is mounted on the periphery of the front surface of the liquid crystal display panel 29 so as to protrude in a frame shape, and includes a normal symbol display device 31, wing portions 32 and 33, and a stage 34.

The normal symbol display device 31 is the center accessory 2
8, a 7-segment display 31a,
And a normal symbol hold display LED 31b. Also,
On both sides of the ordinary symbol display device 31, wing portions 32, 33 extending in a substantially wing shape are provided. further,
On the lower side, special symbol holding display LEDs 35 are provided, which are constituted by four round green LEDs and are arranged horizontally in a row. In this system, the number of game balls that have entered the first-type starting port (ordinary electric accessory) 17 is held up to four, and each ball is sequentially turned on and shifted to the left. Then, each time the next special symbol starts to fluctuate on the liquid crystal display panel 29, the number of unstarted times is exhausted, and one special symbol hold display LED 35 is turned off.

The 7-segment display 31a displays odd numbers from 1 to 9 in a variable manner, and fluctuates when a game ball passes through one of the left and right ordinary symbol operating passages 36, 37 described later. After a lapse of a predetermined time, one kind of odd number is stopped and displayed. Then, when the stop is displayed at, for example, “7”, the first-type start port (ordinary electric accessory) 17 is opened for a predetermined time (for example, 0.5 second).

The normal symbol hold display LED 31b is composed of four round red LEDs, and is a seven-segment display 31.
The two parts are separately arranged on both sides of a. this is,
The number of game balls that have passed through the left and right ordinary symbol operation passage openings 36 and 37 is held up to four, and each time they pass, they are sequentially lit and shifted and displayed. Each time the next 7-segment display 31a starts to display the fluctuation, the number of unstarted times is exhausted and 1
The ordinary symbol hold display LEDs 31b are turned off.

As described above, the wings 32 and 33 are formed in a hollow shape from the upper part to the side part of the center role 28, and a plurality of gaming effect lamps 38 (FIG.
See also). In addition, at the upper end of each outer portion, a normal symbol operation passage opening 36, 37 for a game ball is provided on each of the right and left sides, and at the lower end of each inner portion, a passage opening (not shown) for the game ball is provided, respectively. , These passages 3
A not-shown passage cylinder is provided between each of the passages 6 and 37 and the passage outlet. Then, the game balls entered from the respective passage openings 36 and 37 are left and right normal symbol operation passage opening passage detection switches 36s and 37s (see FIG. 4).
, Passes through each passage cylinder, jumps out of each passage outlet, and rolls on the stage 34. The stage 34 is disposed below the center role 28, and is formed in a partly inclined shape so that the game balls from the respective exits are gathered toward the center and flow down on the game board 10 surface. In addition, the normal symbol operation passage opening detection switch 36s of the game ball, 3s,
The 7-segment display 31a of the ordinary symbol display device 31 is variably displayed by any passage of 7s.

The first-type starting port (ordinary electric accessory) 17 is disposed immediately below the center of the stage 34 of the center accessory 28 in the special symbol display device 16, and is a so-called tulip type pair of left and right wing pieces. Are formed to open and close. Inside, a first-class start-up port (ordinary electric accessory) winning detection switch 17s for detecting the passage of a game ball (see FIG. 4)
Is provided. When this pair of wing pieces open left and right,
When the game ball enters an open state in which the ball can enter, and the pair of wings closes, the game ball enters a closed state in which it is difficult to enter the ball.

The variable prize winning device 18 is disposed below the first type starting port (ordinary electric accessory) 17, and a large prize winning device 30 and a leftward winning prize device 30 are formed on a substrate 41 having a substantially inverted trapezoidal front surface. A ball entrance 42 and a right ball entrance 43 are provided. Here, the special winning device 30 is formed substantially in the center, and has a large winning opening 44 opened in a belt shape, an opening / closing plate 39 for opening and closing the large winning opening 44, and an opening / closing plate 39 for opening and closing the opening / closing plate 39. A special winning opening solenoid 45 (see FIG. 4), an interlocking rod (not shown),
It includes a specific area opening / closing shutter (not shown), an opening / closing shutter solenoid 40 for operating the specific area opening / closing shutter, a specific area (not shown), and an area outside the specific area (not shown).

The left entrance 42 is disposed diagonally above and to the left of the special winning device 30, and has a left entrance passage detection switch 42s (see FIG. 4) provided therein. Further, the right entrance 43 is disposed diagonally above and to the right of the special winning device 30, and a right entrance passage detection switch 43s (see FIG. 4) is provided inside. The out port 46 is disposed immediately below the center of the big winning device 30 in the variable winning device 18. The back ball preventing member 47 is provided below the out port 46, and prevents a game ball that has returned without reaching the game area 11 from returning to the firing position again. The foul ball prevention member 48 is attached to the tip of the inner rail 15, and the return rubber 49 is located on the right half side of the game board 10, substantially opposite to the position of the foul ball prevention member 48, and It is attached along the rail 14 in a fitting manner.

The pair of lamp windmills 24 and 25 are respectively
The special symbol display device 16 is disposed diagonally upward and downward from left to right. The upper left winning opening 19 and the upper right winning opening 20 are respectively disposed on the left and right sides from the special symbol display device 16.
The lower left winning opening 21 and the lower right winning opening 22 are respectively disposed diagonally below left and right from the special symbol display device 16.

The pair of windmills 26 and 27 are disposed on the left and right sides of the special symbol display device 16 and between the special symbol display device 16 and the upper left winning opening 19 or the upper right winning opening 20. The pair of side lamps 50 and 51 are arranged in a vertical band shape and symmetrically at both left and right ends of the game area 11, respectively. In addition, a large number of obstacle nails 23 are provided in the game area 11 so as to be suitable for the pachinko game in consideration of the positional balance with the above-described devices.

Next, various LED lamps located on the game board 10 of this embodiment and their substrates will be described with reference to FIG. In the game area 11 of the game board 10,
The ordinary symbol display device 31 provided in the center accessory 28 (FIG. 2)
), Four round ordinary symbol hold display LEDs 31b
The use substrate 31f is disposed in a substantially rectangular shape. The left and right wings 32, 33 below the substrate 31f.
Around the periphery, four round special symbol holding display LEDs 35 and four game effect lamps 38 serving as a board 35f are provided. A substantially circular substrate 24 provided with two round game effect lamps 24r and 25r on both sides of each lamp windmill shaft is provided at the position of the pair of lamp windmills 24 and 25.
f and 25f are provided. At the positions of the pair of side lamps 50, 51, substantially vertical strip-shaped side lamp substrates 50f, 51f each provided with three round game effect lamps 50r, 51r in a column are provided.

Also, at the position of the upper left winning opening 19 (see FIG. 2), a substantially V-shaped upper left winning opening substrate 19f provided with a single round game effect lamp 19r substantially at the center is placed at the upper right winning opening. 2
In the position of 0 (see FIG. 2), a substantially V-shaped upper right winning opening board 2 provided with one round game effect lamp 20r substantially at the center.
0f are provided respectively. In addition, lower left winning opening 2
At a position 1 (see FIG. 2), a substantially U-shaped lower left winning opening substrate 2 provided with one round game effect lamp 21r substantially at the center.
1f, a substantially U-shaped lower right winning opening board 22f having a single round gaming effect lamp 22r substantially at the center is provided at the position of the lower right winning opening 22 (see FIG. 2). Have been. Further, the first-type starting port (ordinary electric accessory) 17 (FIG. 2)
Position), two round gaming effect lamps 17r
-Type starter (usually motorized accessory) board 17 provided in parallel
f is provided.

Next, the arrangement of the game ball path and switches on the back side of the game board 10 of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In the center of the game board 10, there is provided a substantially horizontal elliptical through hole 28h for attaching a center role, and a diagonally upper right and left side of the center role mounting hole 28h is provided for mounting a circular lamp windmill. On the left and right sides of the through holes 24h and 25h, there are a substantially Daruma-shaped upper left winning opening mounting through hole 19h and an upper right winning opening mounting through hole 20h. A lower left winning opening mounting through hole 21h and a lower right winning opening mounting through hole 22h are provided right below the center, and a substantially inverted truncated conical shaped first type starting opening mounting through hole 17h is provided, respectively. I have. In addition, a penetration hole 19 for the upper left winning opening installation.
h and the upper right winning opening mounting hole 20h are respectively provided outside the vertically long side lamp mounting through holes 50h, 5h.
1h is provided. Further, a substantially inverted trapezoid-shaped variable winning device mounting through hole 18h is provided below the first type starting port mounting through hole 17h.

Also, the first-type starting port (ordinary electric accessory) 17
A first-type start port (normally-powered accessory) solenoid 52 is disposed on the back side of the vehicle, and a first-type start-up port (normally-powered accessory) winning detection switch 17s is disposed therein as described above. Has been established. As described above, the normal symbol operation passage opening detection switches 36s and 37s are disposed inside the left and right ordinary symbol operation passage openings 36 and 37, respectively.
Furthermore, the special winning device 30 formed in the variable winning device 18
A large winning opening solenoid 45 for opening and closing the opening / closing plate 39 and an opening / closing shutter solenoid 40 for operating the specific area opening / closing shutter are respectively provided on the left and right sides of the large winning opening 44. A count passage detection switch 53 and a count detection / specific region passage detection switch 54 are also provided in the region outside the specific region and in the specific region. As described above, the left ball entrance passage detection switch 42s and the right ball entrance passage detection switch 43s are provided inside the left ball entrance 42 and the right ball entrance 43, respectively.

Further, on the back side of the game board 10, a mechanical board 102 (see FIG. 5), which will be described later,
9, lower left winning opening 21, first-class starting opening (normal electric accessory) 1
7 and the left safe ball collecting gutter 55 connecting the left ball entrance 42
And the upper right winning opening 20, the lower right winning opening 22 and the right entering ball opening 43
Is connected to the right safe ball collecting gutter 56 to which the.
Further, an out ball collecting gutter 58 is disposed in a funnel shape from the back side of the out port 46.

Next, the back surface structure of the pachinko machine 1 of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The front frame 4 (see FIG. 1) is in the middle frame 3 and is supported by a pair of hinges 101 provided at the upper and lower ends of the front frame 4 so as to be openable and closable. The mechanism board 102 is provided by a pair of hinges 103 provided at the upper and lower positions of the mechanism board 102 in the middle frame 3.
It is supported so that it can be opened and closed. The game board 10 is detachably attached to the front side of the middle frame 3. On the left side when viewed from the position of the hinge 101 at the upper end, a prize ball tank 10 provided with a tank ball out detection switch 104 at the bottom of the tank.
5 and a tank rail 106 connected to the prize ball tank 105 are attached. In addition, tank rail 1
On the right side of 06, a ball pulling lever 107 is provided, and on the downstream side thereof, a supply ball out detection sensor 108 is further provided.
Downstream thereof, a prize ball payout device 109 is provided.

Subsequently, a game ball distribution unit 110 is provided downstream of the prize ball payout device 109. On the downstream side of the tank rail 106, a back case 111 with a lid storing the liquid crystal display panel 29 in the special symbol display device 16 is provided.
Below the back case 111, a main control unit 14 described later is provided.
0 (see FIG. 16) are provided with main control board cases 112 each storing a main control board 340 constituting them.
On the left side of the main control board case 112, a launcher control board case 113 containing a launcher control board (not shown),
Touch sensitivity adjustment knob 114, ball fly strength adjustment knob 1
15 and a launch control collective relay board 116 are provided. In the lower left portion of the mechanical panel 102, the above-described firing device unit 8 is also provided. A frame control unit 150 (see FIG.
6)) (frame control board (first peripheral control board 350))
Is provided.
A special symbol control board (second peripheral control board 360) on which a special symbol control section 160 (see FIG. 16: second peripheral control section) for controlling the operation of the liquid crystal display panel 29 of the special symbol display device 16 is formed. , Control the various lamps,
A lamp control board (third peripheral control board 37) on which a lamp control section 170 (see FIG. 16: third peripheral control section) is formed.
0), a lamp audio board (fourth peripheral control board 380) on which an audio control section 180 (see FIG. 16: fourth peripheral control section) for controlling audio output from the speaker 400 is also attached.

On the other hand, at the upper right end of the mechanical panel 102, there are a fuse box 119, a power switch 120, a power terminal board 121 and a gaming machine such as a jackpot, launching device control, ball out, door opening, award ball, ball lending, etc. A terminal board 122 provided with a frame external connection terminal is provided. In addition, a power cable 123 for receiving power supply from outside is also provided below the terminal board 122. A connection cable 124 is provided from the frame control board case 118 in which the frame control board is stored.
Extends upward and is connected to a prepaid card unit 13 having a power cable 125. A ball passage member 126 for the lower plate portion is provided at a substantially central lower end portion of the mechanism panel 102.
Is provided.

Next, the back mechanism board 102 of the pachinko machine 1 of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. At the upper part of the back mechanism board 102, a winning ball tank 105 having a tank ball out detection switch 104 at the bottom of the tank, and a tank rail 106 connected to the winning ball tank 105 are mounted. Further, a supply ball exhaustion detection switch 108 is provided at an intermediate position of the tank rail 106, and a prize ball payout device 10 is provided downstream thereof.
9 are provided. Subsequently, the game ball distribution unit 11
0 is provided on the downstream side of the prize ball payout device 109. A lower plate full switch 127 is provided on the downstream side of the tank rail 106, and the guide rail 131 is
02 ball passage member 1 for the lower plate portion provided at the substantially central lower end portion
26. An amplifier board 128 is attached to the lower right portion of the back mechanism panel 102, and a reset switch 129 is provided outside the amplifier board 128.

Next, the flow path of the safe ball of the pachinko machine 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 7, each of the left safe ball collecting gutter 55 and the right safe ball collecting gutter 56 has a flow path of a safe ball whose lower end portion is formed in a gentle downward slope or a step shape, Further, their lower portions are opened, and are communicated from the back side of the out port 46 to out ball collecting gutters 58 arranged in a funnel shape. FIG.
The upper right winning opening 20 and the lower right winning opening 22 are formed on a passage 57 formed in a stepwise manner at the lower end of the right safe ball collecting gutter 56.
And the safe ball that has entered the right entry opening 43 is flowing down to the out ball collecting gutter 58 while rolling. FIG. 9 shows the passage 5 formed in the out ball collecting gutter 58.
7 shows a form in which a safe sphere flows down.

Next, the prize ball payout device 109 of the pachinko machine 1 of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 10, the prize ball payout device 109 receives a prize ball flowing down on the guide rail 223, and drives a cam 210 for paying out one prize ball and a cam shaft 211 of the cam 210. The motor 212 and the camshaft 2
11, a rotating disk 213 having a plurality of slits formed in parallel with the cam 210;
3, a prize ball payout sensor 214 (here, which detects the rotation angle of the cam 210), a prize ball payout device sensor board 215 to which the prize ball payout sensor 214 is attached, and And a case body 217 for storing these parts and a case lid 216 thereof.

In this embodiment, the cam 210 has a projection 210 a in a direction orthogonal to the cam shaft
As shown in FIG. 12 (c), the prize balls are temporarily placed in the recesses formed between the convex portions 210a,
When the camshaft 211 is rotated 90 degrees, the prize balls placed in the recesses between the protrusions 210a of the cam 210 are paid out. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 11, two rows of ball passages 218 are provided in parallel so that the guide rail 223 is provided with a partition wall to allow the prize balls to flow down in order to increase the payout ability of the prize balls. Therefore, the camshaft 211 has
In order to receive the prize ball to be paid out and to pay out one prize ball, two cams 210 are mounted in a parallel state by changing the mounting angle (90 degrees in this embodiment) in a direction perpendicular to the cam shaft 211. Installed with.

Each of the ball passages 218 is formed in a meandering state in front of the cam shaft 211 as shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, and is formed between the projection 219 of the ball passage 218 and the cam 210. At intervals, the payout of one prize ball is regulated. In this embodiment, the camshaft 2
11 includes two cams 210 in parallel as described above.
Are mounted at different mounting angles (90 degrees in the present embodiment), so that if the camshaft 211 is rotated 90 degrees, two prize balls, one each in each ball passage 218, will be re-installed. If the shaft 211 is rotated once, 4
A total of eight prize balls will be paid out.

The motor 212 is driven in accordance with the prize ball to be paid out, and the rotation of the camshaft 211 is controlled based on this drive. The number of rotations of the cam shaft 211 is determined by the prize ball payout sensor 214 photoelectrically detecting slit positions formed on the rotating disk 213 at predetermined angular intervals (for example, 45 degrees). The obtained number of rotations is fed back to the motor 212 and counted as the number of payouts of prize balls as described above. For example, in the case of paying out 15 prize balls, seven prize balls shaded in one ball path 218 shown in FIG. 13A and the other ball path 218 shown in FIG. In, eight awarded balls with diagonal lines are to be paid out, and the camshaft 211 rotates by one rotation and 7/8,
At this time, the prize ball payout sensor 214 has counted the slit 15 times. After the rotation of the camshaft 211, seven prize balls are paid out in one ball passage 218 shown in FIG.
a and the protrusion 219 of the ball passage 218. The other ball passage 2 shown in FIG.
At 18, eight prize balls are paid out, and the next prize ball is put in a recess formed between the convex portions 210a of the cam 210 (see also FIG. 12).

As the prize ball payout sensor 214, in addition to the above-mentioned mode of photoelectrically detecting the slit, as shown in FIG. The groove 220 can be detected in a non-contact state by the proximity switch 221, or the groove 220 can be detected in a contact state by the micro switch 222 as shown in FIG. Also,
Instead of the method of detecting the rotation of the camshaft 211, the prize ball to be paid out can be detected by a limit switch, a photoelectric tube, or the like.

Next, the electronic control unit 130 of the pachinko machine 1 of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. First, the electronic control unit 130 includes a main control unit 140 and a frame control unit 150, a special symbol control unit 160, and a lamp control unit serially connected to the main control unit 140 by a shared bus 500 that is a common signal transmission path. Unit 170 and voice control unit 18
0 is included. The four control units 150, 160, 170, 180 other than the main control unit constitute first to fourth peripheral control units as described above.

The main control unit 140 is provided with the CPU 141 and the RA
The M142, the ROM 143, and the input / output port 144 are mutually connected by a bus 145. And
The CPU 141 uses the control program stored in the ROM 143 to control the operation of the entire pachinko machine 1 using the RAM 142 as a work area (that is, the basic progress control of the game).
Govern In addition, the CPU 141 performs the determination control based on the determination program stored in the ROM 143. Further, the shared bus 500 is connected to the input / output port 144, and the input / output port
4 to its shared bus 500, each peripheral control unit 150, 1
Command data as command signals for instructing the processing contents to 60, 170 and 180 is transmitted. The main control unit 140
, Data is transmitted in a one-way format to each of the peripheral control units 150, 160, 170, 180. The power supply terminal board 121 is connected to the main control unit 140. It is apparent that the main control unit 140 is itself a first-type operation unit that is concerned with the player's interest in obtaining a prize ball. In addition, the RAM 142 forms a first-type control information storage unit that stores control information (game medium information such as hit / failure determination information) related to a player's interest in acquiring a prize ball.

The relay board 200 is connected with a switch 37s for detecting the passage of the right normal symbol operating passage, a switch 36s for detecting the passage of the left ordinary symbol operating passage, a count detection switch 53, a count detection and specific area passage detection switch 54, and the like. The output terminal of the relay board 200 is an input / output port 144
Is connected to In addition, a first-type start-up port (ordinary electric accessory) winning detection switch 17 s is also connected to the input / output port 144. Furthermore, the output of the prize ball payout sensor 214 is input to the main control unit 140 via the relay board 200, and the frame control unit 15
It is also input to 0.

Frame control unit (value medium payout control unit) 150
Are the same arithmetic circuit components 151 to 151 as the main control unit 140.
155 and is connected to the shared bus 500 at the input / output port 154. In addition, the input / output port 154 is provided, via a relay board 200b, with a normal symbol display device board 31f, various solenoids 40 for controlling the operation of the accessory,
45, the prize ball payout device 109, the launching device control board 201, and the like are connected. In addition, the frame terminal board 200a includes:
Touch switch 9a, firing stop switch 9b, volume switch 202, left entrance opening detection switch 42
s, the right entrance opening passage detection switch 43s, the out-of-tank ball detection switch 104, the out-of-supply ball detection sensor 108, and the like are connected, and the output terminal of the frame terminal board 200a is connected to the input / output port 154. The frame control unit 150
And the ordinary symbol display device board 31f (and the ordinary symbol display device 31 connected thereto), various solenoids 45 and 52 for controlling the operation of the accessory, the prize ball payout device 109, and the launching device control substrate 201 (and connected thereto). The launching device) and the like are a first-type operating unit that is involved in a player's interest in obtaining a prize ball. In addition, the RAM 152 forms a first-type control information storage unit that stores control information (game information such as operation information of a bonus item or the number of payouts of award balls) related to a player's interest in acquiring award balls.

The special symbol control unit 160 includes a main control unit 140
, And are connected to the shared bus 500 at the input / output port 164. The input / output port 164 has a liquid crystal display panel 2
9 is connected. In addition, the special symbol control unit 160,
The liquid crystal display panel 29 that displays a special symbol can be regarded as a first-type operating unit that is involved in a player's interest in acquiring a prize ball.

The lamp control section 170 includes the same arithmetic circuit components 171 to 175 as the main control section 140, and is connected to the shared bus 500 at the input / output port 174. The input / output port 174 includes a frame decoration lamp board 4g, various lamp boards 17f, 20f, 21f, and 22.
f, 24f, 25f, 50f, 51f, and various LED boards 4d, 4f, 35f are connected. One or more lamps or LEDs are connected to each of these boards. In the present embodiment, for example, 32 lamps and LEDs are provided in front of the gaming machine.
Are arranged. Some of these lamps always turn on and turn off multiple lamps at the same time,
Here, each of the plurality of lamp sets is regarded as one. These 32 lamps are turned on / off or blink in accordance with the progress of the game. The lamp control unit 1
70 and various kinds of boards (and, by extension, lamps, etc.) connected thereto are all second-type actuating sections that do not contribute to the player's interest in acquiring prize balls.

The voice control unit 180 includes the same arithmetic circuit components 181 to 185 as the main control unit 140, and is connected to the shared bus 500 at the input / output port 184. The sound generator 203 and the volume switch board 12 are connected to the input / output port 184. The sound generator 203 includes an LS (not shown).
Based on the audio data and the audio output module stored in the I or the like, various audio outputs corresponding to the progress of the game are performed from the speaker 400 connected thereto. The volume switch board 12 is operated by a volume switch (not shown).
The output volume of the sound generator 203 is set. Note that the sound control unit 180 and the sound generator 203 and the like connected thereto are all second-type operation units that do not contribute to the player's interest in acquiring prize balls.

FIG. 17 is an overall circuit diagram showing an example of a board connection layout including a power supply unit of the electronic control unit 130. 18 to 23 are divided circuit diagrams showing details of FIG. The electronic control unit 130 receives an AC voltage (AC 24 V) from the power receiving board 410 via the power cable 501. This AC voltage is applied to the substrate 41
Within 0, it is distributed to the connectors 413 and 414. The connector 413 is connected to a transformation supply cable 503, and the AC voltage is supplied to the power supply unit 420. As shown in FIG. 19, the power receiving board 410 has a power supply fuse 416 for cutting off a receiving voltage for overcurrent protection, and an AC24 to the prepaid card unit 13.
A fuse 417 for cutting off the supply of V is attached.

As shown in FIG. 25, the power receiving board 410
Is distributed to a plurality of, in this case, four types of voltage converters 425 to 428 by a transformation supply cable 503. Among them, the voltage converters 425, 427, 428
Is configured as a DC conversion circuit. In each case, a transformer 573 is provided on the AC input side, and the secondary side AC output is converted to DC by full-wave rectification by a diode bridge 574 and smoothing by a capacitor 575, and a desired DC output voltage V0 is obtained by a three-terminal regulator 577. Like that. Note that the capacitor 578 is for preventing the circuit from oscillating due to the wiring inductance and the parasitic capacitance inside the three-terminal regulator IC, and the capacitor 579 is for reducing the output impedance of the three-terminal regulator IC at a high frequency. Things. Further, the diode 580 is for reverse current bypass to the three-terminal regulator IC. Note that a diode 580 may be omitted from a voltage conversion unit (for example, DC 5 V) that is not involved in driving the motor. Further, depending on the output voltage value (for example, 32 V), the transformer 573 may be omitted, and the AC voltage may be changed to the diode bridge 57.
The DC voltage can be obtained by full-wave rectification by 4 and smoothing by the capacitor 575, and the output voltage can be obtained by omitting the three-terminal regulator 577.

As a simpler configuration of the constant voltage power supply, a Zener diode 576 can be used instead of the three-terminal regulator as shown in FIG.

Each of the voltage converters 425, 427, 428
Turn ratio of transformer 573 and three-terminal regulator 577
By appropriately selecting the output voltage of
V (solenoid drive voltage for accessories, etc.), DC12
V (drive voltage of a prize ball dispensing device motor or other analog control voltage) and DC 5 V (digital control drive voltage) are generated.

On the other hand, the voltage conversion section 426 is for generating a voltage of 24 V which is the same as the input AC voltage, and does not include a transformer. Then, after full-wave rectification by the diode bridge 574, the capacitor 57
5, 578, 579 and a three-terminal regulator 577 are converted into a drive voltage of a torque motor for a 24 V DC launcher, and the like, and output. On the other hand, the output of the full-wave rectified pulsating flow is branched from the input side of these DC smoothing circuits. This pulsating flow is used for driving a light emitting device including a resistance filament, for example, a lamp. Note that a pulsating flow output terminal is added to the output connector 422 of the power supply unit 420 (see FIG. 19) for the pulsating flow output. On the other hand, as shown in FIG.
The power supply 10 is provided with a power supply fuse 416 for protection when an overload is applied to the output side. Further, a power switch 415 is provided for turning on / off the output of the received AC.

The power supply unit 420 is formed with an input connector 421 to which the transformation voltage supply cable 503 is connected, an output terminal (1, 2, 3, 6) for each converted voltage, and a ground terminal (4, 5). And an output connector 422 including a backup terminal (7, 8). FIG.
In the output connector 422 shown in FIG.
Although only 24 terminals are illustrated, two 24 V terminals for DC and for pulsating flow are actually formed. As for the backup terminal, the terminal No. 8 is a voltage converter 428 for DC5V (FIG. 25)
And a capacitor 423 as power storage means (second power supply means) is connected so as to extend between the ground terminal and the seventh terminal so that a backup voltage of 5 VDC is output from the seventh terminal. It has become.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 24, the input AC voltage (AC 24 V) can be converted and output according to the following procedure. First, the AC voltage input from the power receiving board 410 is rectified in the rectifier 760 including a rectifier circuit element such as a diode (for example, full-wave rectification by the diode bridge 574 or the like). The rectified voltage is used as a pulsating flow, for example, at one of the output connectors
It is possible to output from the terminal. This pulsating voltage can be smoothed for various purposes in each control board to which it is supplied.
It can be smoothed by a three-terminal regulator or the like. For example, in the case of using a light emitting device including a resistance filament, for example, a lamp control board for driving driving of lamps, a pulsating voltage can be used as it is, and a launch control board for driving a launch device torque motor. In the case of using the liquid crystal panel, it is possible to use a stable DC voltage by smoothing a pulsating flow in the firing control board.

The rectified voltage in the rectifier 760 is smoothed in the pulsating portion in a smoother 761 having a capacitor or the like, and the voltage of the output connector 4 is changed to 32 V DC.
22 (see FIG. 19). Similarly, the rectifying unit 76
After being rectified by 0, the voltage smoothed by the smoothing unit 762 is stepped down and stabilized by the step-down type chopper regulator ICs 763 and 765 having the same three-terminal regulator as described above, and then the rectifier circuit again Rectification and smoothing are performed by rectification and smoothing units 764 and 766 including the elements and the smoothing circuit elements, and output as DC12V or DC5V.
Note that a power storage means (second power supply means) 767 composed of a capacitor or the like is connected to the DC 5 V.
In this case, the power storage means 767 includes a capacitor 769 and a charging circuit 768 for charging the capacitor 769 and preventing backflow.

As shown in FIG. 19, the output connector 422 of the power supply unit 420 is connected to the input connector 433 of the power distribution board 430 by a cable 504, and various power supply voltages converted and generated by the power supply unit 420 are output. Is to be supplied. Then, the distribution board 430
As shown in FIG. 17, a plurality of control boards for controlling the operation of the pachinko machine 1, here, a main control board 340, a frame control board (first peripheral control board, award ball control board) 350, a special symbol control board (Second peripheral control board) 360, a lamp control board (third peripheral control board) 370, a voice control board (fourth peripheral control board) 380, and a launch control board 201 are used to connect each board. Board-side connectors 431 to 437 are provided to collectively output power voltage output terminals, and the power supply voltage from the input connector 433 is distributed to each terminal.

As shown in FIG. 20, a connector 431 for the main control board 340 includes DC 32 V (No. 2: for driving various solenoids) and DC 12 V (No. 4: for operating various switches).
And three output terminals of DC5V (No. 6: for digital signal power supply) and four ground terminals (No. 1, 3, 5, 7)
Includes a total of seven terminals. Connector 4 for frame control board 350
34 (see FIGS. 53, 54 and 55) is a DC 32 V (1
No .: three output terminals of DC12V (No. 3: driving a prize ball payout motor) and DC5V (No. 5: digital signal power supply) and three ground terminals (2, 2 for driving various solenoids)
No. 4 and No. 6) and two backup terminals (No. 7 and No. 8 (5 V DC)), for a total of eight terminals. The connector 436 for the special symbol control board 360 is DC12V (2nd:
Two output terminals for driving a liquid crystal panel) and 5 V DC (No. 4: for digital signal power supply) and three ground terminals (1,
3 and 5). The connector 437 of the lamp control board 370 has three output terminals of pulsating current 24V (No. 2: for driving light emission of a bulb), DC12V (No. 4: for driving light emission of an LED) and DC5V (No. 6: for power of a digital signal) and 4 And seven ground terminals (1, 3, 5, 7). Connector 4 for voice control board 380
35 is DC12V (No.2: speaker drive) and DC
It includes five terminals, two output terminals of 5V (No. 4: for digital signal power supply) and three ground terminals (Nos. 1, 3, 5). Further, the connector 432 of the firing control board 201
Is DC 24V (No.2: for firing motor drive), DC12
V (No. 4: for driving the ball feed solenoid) and DC5V (6
No .: for digital signal power supply) and four ground terminals (No. 1, 3, 5, 7), for a total of seven terminals.

Although not shown in FIG. 19, two backup terminals are separately provided on main control board 340, and backup power can be supplied from power distribution board 430 to main control board 340. (See FIG. 27). In addition, as for the supply of backup power to the frame control board 350, as shown in FIG.

As is clear from FIG. 19, all of the board side connectors 431 to 437 have no spare terminal portion, and the wiring toward the corresponding board is connected to all the formed terminals. Connected to the unit. In particular,
The board-side connector includes only an output terminal for each power supply voltage and a ground terminal, or only an output terminal for each power supply voltage, a ground terminal, and a backup power supply terminal. In order to respond flexibly to changes in the power supply system design, etc., it may be convenient to form a spare terminal section in order to facilitate the addition of a new power supply voltage terminal. By adopting a configuration in which all the terminals are used up without excess or shortage without intentionally forming the terminal portion, an advantage that illegal operation using spare terminals can be effectively prevented is brought about.

Further, as shown in FIG. 19, the board side connectors 431 to 437 are provided with wiring cables 511 to 517 in which a group of wires directed to the corresponding board are grouped together, and a wiring side connector 431a formed at the end thereof. 437a. Then, in two or more pairs of the board-side connector and the wiring-side connector corresponding to each other, here, the connector harnesses in all the pairs are colored in different colors between the pairs. (Examples of selection of coloring colors are written in the drawing).
By doing so, it becomes extremely easy to identify the wiring-side connector that matches the board-side connector, and the efficiency and reliability of the connection operation can be improved.

The color coding of the connector harness does not necessarily have to be performed for all connectors. However, two or more board-side connectors having the same number of formed terminals and different combinations of the types of power supply voltages included therein are formed. In such a case, it is desirable that the connector harnesses of the board-side connectors, together with at least the wiring-side connectors forming the respective pairs, be colored in the same color and different colors between the pairs. Such a connector having the same number of terminals is liable to cause an erroneous connection due to a mistake or the like, and if an operating voltage different from the originally required one is supplied to the board, an erroneous connection of the board or an electric device connected to the board may occur. There is also a risk of operation or breakage. Therefore, if the corresponding connector harnesses are colored as described above, even if connectors having the same number of terminals are mixed, it can be easily identified, and the occurrence of the above-described problem can be prevented. Can be prevented.

Hereinafter, the form of connecting parts to each substrate will be described.
This will be described with reference to FIGS. The main control board 340
As shown in FIG. 20, the power supply voltage from the power distribution board 430 is received by the power supply connector 341. The main control board 340 incorporates the shared bus 500 of FIG. 16, and as shown in FIGS. 20 and 23, connectors 342 to 34 for connecting signal transmission cables to each board.
6 are formed. A signal (command) transmission cable to the frame control board 350 is connected to the connector 343 (see FIGS. 17 and 23). A cable for transmitting a signal (command) to the special symbol display board 360 is connected to the connector 345 (see FIGS. 17 and 20). On the other hand, a cable for receiving a sensor signal from the relay board 200 to which various sensors are connected is connected to the connector 342 (FIGS. 17 and 20).
reference). The cables 524, 521, and 520 for transmitting signals to the external information terminal board 440, the lamp control board 370, and the audio control board 380 are connected to the connectors 344, 3
46 and 345 (see FIGS. 17 and 20).

As shown in FIGS. 17 and 21, the frame control board 350 applies various power supply voltages from the power distribution board 430 to the connector 352 and the cables 514 connected thereto.
To receive power. A signal cable 547 for transmitting a firing control signal generated by the CPU 151 (see FIG. 16) to the firing control board 201 is connected to the connector 358. Cable 546 for receiving detection signal of ball lending counting sensor 470
Is connected to the connector 363. Alarm buzzer board 46
0 drive cable 545 is connected to connector 356. Cable 53 of prize ball counting signal from relay board 200
3 is connected to the connector 351. On the other hand, upper tray CR
The signal transmission cable 542 and the signal reception cable 541 to the board 450 are connected to connectors 361 and 362, respectively. The drive cable of the switching solenoid is connected to the connector 360. Cables 543 and 544 for transmitting and receiving signals to the prize ball motor sensor board 109a connected to the prize ball motor 109b are connected to the connector 35, respectively.
3,354. A signal (command) cable 523 from the main control board 340 is connected to the connector 357. A signal cable 548 for transmitting a ball to the external information terminal board 440 is connected to the connector 359. Then, the prepaid card unit 13 is connected to the connector 355.

As shown in FIGS. 17 and 20, to the connectors 221 to 225 of the frame relay board 200, the supply ball out switch 108, the prize ball counting sensor 214, and the lower tray full switch 27 are connected. A transmission cable 534 for sending signals from these sensors to the main control board 340
Are connected to the connector 224. The cable 533 for transmitting the winning ball count is connected to the connector 223.

As shown in FIGS. 17 and 22, in the external information terminal board 440, a signal cable 548 from the frame control board 350 is connected to the connector 445. The signal cable 524 from the main control board 340 is connected to the connector 44.
4 is connected. Door switch 48 for detecting door opening
0 is connected to the connector 442. The tank ball out switch 104 is connected to the connector 441. Connector 44
Reference numeral 3 includes terminals for ball-out information output, door (door) open output, jackpot information output, award ball information output, and ball lending information output. Further, the connectors 446 and 447 include terminals for award ball information output and ball lending information output, respectively.

As shown in FIGS. 17 and 22, in the lamp control board 370, the power distribution board 4 is connected to the connector 371.
A cable 517 for supplying various power supply voltages from the power supply 30 is connected. A signal cable 521 from the main control board 340 is connected to the connector 373. The connector 372 is connected to a cable 550 for supplying a drive voltage of the light emitter and transmitting a control signal, which is directed toward the connector 491 of the illumination relay board 490. Connector 4 of the electric relay board 490
A cable 93 supplies a pulsating current as a lamp drive current received from the distribution board 430 via the cables 517 and 550 to the board 35f on which a lamp that emits light by a resistance filament is attached, and a switching control signal. 551 are connected. On the other hand, the connector 492 has an L connected in series by cables 552 and 553.
The ED substrates 4f and 4d are connected to each other, and a D for driving LED emission is provided.
C12V and a switching control signal are supplied.

As shown in FIGS. 17 and 19, in the audio control board 380, the power distribution board 43
A cable 515 for supplying various power supply voltages from 0 is connected. The signal cable 520 from the main control board 340 is connected to the connector 381. Then, the speaker 400 for audio output is connected to the connector 383 via the volume switch board 12.

As shown in FIGS. 17 and 18, the firing control board 201 includes a firing motor 9 c and a firing stop switch 9.
b, the ball feed solenoid board 9e to which the ball feed solenoid 9f is connected is connected. Further, a variable resistor 9d for adjusting the firing force of the firing motor 9c, a start switch 9
The firing handle unit 9 including a and the like is also connected.

In the above configuration, power supply unit 420 receives an AC voltage from power supply receiving board 410 and power distribution board 430 has DC driven prize ball dispensing apparatus 109.
And a frame control board 350 for controlling the operation with the prepaid card unit 13 driven by AC. The DC power supply voltage used in the frame control board 350 is
The power is supplied from the power supply unit 420 to the frame control board 350 via the power distribution board 430. On the other hand, an AC power supply voltage (AC 24 V) for driving the prepaid card unit 13
Is supplied directly from the power receiving board 410 to the frame control board 350. Specifically, an AC output connector 414 is provided on the power receiving board 410 (see also FIG. 25).
Is formed, and the cable 500 connected to the
The AC power supply voltage is supplied to the AC power receiving connector 358 of the frame control board 350. In this way, even when a control board that requires an AC power supply voltage is exceptionally included, such as the frame control board 350, an AC power supply separated from the power supply unit 420 (in this case, the power supply Power receiving board 41
By supplying the AC power according to (0), the power supply unit 420 of the DC system can be shared by all the boards including the control board that requires the AC power supply voltage, and further responds to design changes. Easier to do.

Next, as shown in FIG. 43A, the control boards 340, 350, 109a, 450, 360,
370, 380, 201, 440, etc., in particular, the main control board 340 or the frame control board 35 involved in the prize ball acquisition interest.
0 and the like can be covered by a cover 601 (cover means) to prevent unauthorized modification. In this case, in order to make it easy to confirm the presence or absence of wrongdoing, the cover 601 can be configured to intentionally leave a trace on the appearance due to the removal operation, that is, to be reopened with destruction. In this embodiment, the screwing portion 6 integrated via the cut connection portion 602 formed on the cover main body 601a.
03, the one-way screw 126 is attached to the mounting base B
The cover is attached to the back mechanism board 102 or the like, for example, by being formed separately or individually. When the cover 601 is to be removed, as shown in (b), the connection portion 601 to be cut is cut (destroyed) to separate the cover body 601a and the screw portion 603.
As shown in FIG. 3C, an image (for example, a holographic image) or a character such as a holographic image is formed on a paper tape or, when peeled off, over the cover body 601a and the mounting base portion B. A sealing piece 605 made of a tape with a peeling detection function or the like that appears may be fixed.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG.
In order to prevent an overcurrent from flowing to 0, a specific power supply voltage toward at least one of the control board groups, specifically, a drive power supply voltage of the motor of a board to which the motor is connected. Fuses 438 and 439
Is provided. In the present embodiment, the launch control board 201
24 supplied to the launching motor 9c attached to the
12 V DC supplied to the prize ball motor 109 b connected to the fuse 438 for cutting off V and the frame control board 350
Fuses 439 for shutting off the power supply are exchangeably mounted.

As shown in FIG. 43D, the distribution board 43
Reference numeral 0 is covered with a cover 610 (cover means) that does not cause intentional trace residue due to the removing operation. In the present embodiment, at least the fuse mounting area (here, the entire board) of the power distribution board 430 is provided on the cover main body 610a.
An opening 610e for exposing the opening is formed.
e is openably closed by a lid 610b. Here, one edge of the lid 610b in the width direction is a hinge 610f.
While being pivotably connected to the other side of the lid side portion 6
10g is formed so as to protrude toward the substrate side, and the engaging claw 610d formed on the tip side is engaged with the engaging recess 610c formed on the inner side of the corresponding side wall portion of the cover main body 610a, so that the opening 610e is formed. Can be fixedly closed by the lid 601b. For example, the lid side portion 61
0g is made of at least an elastic material such as plastic, and a portion near the engaging claw 610d is pushed inward to be elastically deformed.
The engagement state with respect to 10c can be released, and the lid 610b can be opened without leaving a clear trace. Lid 61
The cover 601 that covers the control board group by opening 0c
Without opening the fuse 437 or 43
9 can be easily replaced.

The power supply unit 420 and the power receiving board 410 as well as the power distribution board 430 can be covered with the cover 610 that does not intentionally leave traces accompanying the removal operation. When a centralized power supply unit in which the power supply unit 420 and the power receiving board 410 are integrated is adopted, this can be covered with the cover 610. In any case, the fuse of the specific voltage supplied to the control board covered with the cover with the open trace remains is not a control board, but a power distribution unit (the connectors 431 to 431 in the present embodiment). 437), the fuse can be easily replaced without removing the cover.

The power distribution board 430 and the above-described centralized power supply unit may not be particularly covered with a cover. Also in this case, the convenience of fuse replacement is similarly improved.

Hereinafter, the operation of the pachinko machine 1 will be described with reference to FIG. The prize ball operation is executed in the following order. When the game ball passes the count detection switch 53 or the count detection and specific area passage detection switch 54, the main control unit 140 outputs the fifteen prize ball number data to the first-class start-up port (normal electric accessory) prize detection switch 17s. When the ball has passed, six pieces of prize ball number data, otherwise, for example, the passage detection switches 42s of the
For example, when the passage of 43s is detected, the 10th winning ball number data is sent to the frame control unit 150 in the order of detection as a command signal for setting the frame control unit 150 as an operation command target, and the shared bus 500 is used. (That is, the number of unique prize balls is 6, 10, or 15 here).
Individual). The frame control unit 150 receives the winning ball number data from the main control unit 140 and operates the winning ball payout device 109 by transmitting a winning ball payout signal.

The main control unit 140 determines the game state based on the outputs of the various detection switches described above, determines whether or not the game is valid based on the game state, and displays a symbol corresponding to the content of the determination. Data for performing image display control in an aspect is created. For example, the main control unit 140
First-class starter (ordinary electric accessory) winning detection switch 17
s, using the detection results of the count detection switch 53, the count detection and specific area passage detection switch 54, etc., and the acquired value of the special symbol pass / fail judgment random number, etc. It is also determined that there is no start prize (variable preparation state), that there is a start prize, a special game state, and the like. In addition, when a winning start is detected, a determination is made based on a random number value, and based on the determination result, data for controlling a display mode such as a change or determination of a special symbol is created. This data is transmitted via the above-described shared bus 500 as a command signal for setting the special symbol control unit 160 as an operation command target.

Further, various lamps such as the frame decoration lamp board 4g and the sound generator 203 are provided with a special symbol change / stop display mode controlled by the special symbol control unit 160,
The form is controlled according to the presence or absence of reach, the form of reach display (full rotation, frame advance, reverse, pattern enlargement / reduction, etc.), the special game mode, and the game mode (probability fluctuation, time saving, etc.). You. The command signal of the control command is transmitted via the above-described shared bus 500 as a command signal for setting the lamp control unit 170 or the voice control unit 180 as an operation command target.

Next, the main control unit 140 and the special symbol control unit 1
The main jobs among the various jobs executed by the processes 60 and 60 will be described below. First, a main job executed by the main control unit 140 will be described with reference to FIG. This is executed by the CPU 141 based on a program stored in the ROM 143 of the main control unit 140. That is, the stack pointer is stored in RAM
After setting to the predetermined address of 142 (S10), the end of initialization is determined (S20). If the initialization has been completed (S20: YES), the jobs from the LED job (S30) to the switch job (S70) are executed. If the initialization has not been completed (S20: N
O), an initialization job (S190) is executed.

In the LED job (S30), the display mode data of the normal symbol and the number of normal symbol unstarts, the display mode data of the special symbol unstart number, and the like are output. In the constant speed random number job (S40), the special symbol hit / failure random number memory and the general-purpose count memory (not shown) of the RAM 142 are updated. In the non-constant-speed random number job (S50), the out-of-touch normal symbol random number memory (not shown) is updated. In addition,
The general-purpose count memory (not shown) is used for creating values of “0” to “255” for each user reset, executing a command job, a decoration job, and the like. In the music creation job (S60), data relating to music and voice is created, and in the switch job (S70), various detection switches are read. That is, various signals such as a firing stop detection signal, a touch detection signal, a volume detection signal, a count detection signal, a specific area passage detection signal, a normal symbol operation passage opening detection signal, and a left and right entrance opening passage detection signal are transmitted through the relay board 200. Through the main control unit 140, a first-type starting port winning detection signal is received from the first-type starting port (ordinary electric accessory) winning detection switch 17s.

Further, it is determined whether or not the count detection switch 53 or the count detection and specific area passage detection switch 54 is abnormal (S80). If there is no abnormality (S80: YES), the special symbol main job (S90)
To the voice job (S110) are executed. If there is an abnormality (ball clogging, disconnection, etc.) (S8
0: NO), an error job (S130) is executed.

In the special symbol main job (S90), a job relating to data necessary for the main control unit 140 and the special symbol control unit 160 to operate in cooperation is executed. This job will be described later. In the ordinary symbol main job (S100), display mode data of the ordinary symbol and the number of times the ordinary symbol has not been started is created. In the voice job (S110), voice data corresponding to the game state is output.

Thereafter, the count detection switch 53 is again activated.
Or count detection and specific area passage detection switch 54
It is determined whether or not there is an abnormality (S120). If there is no abnormality (S120: YES), each flag state is set in the backup memory (S140), a prize ball signal job (S150), and an information signal job (S160). ), Command job (S170), and remaining time job (S180)
Is executed. If any of the switches are abnormal (S
120: NO), an error job (S130) is executed.

In the prize ball signal job (S150),
Creation and output of data related to winning ball payout are performed, and in an information signal job (S160), data necessary for information output to another control unit is created. Further, in the command job (S170), input and output of commands for special symbol management are performed, and in the remaining time job (S180), non-constant random numbers are called, and a general-purpose random number memory (not shown) is used.
Is updated.

Next, the flow of the award ball total number storage job executed in the above-described series of main jobs will be described with reference to FIG. In S200, it is confirmed whether or not there is a winning ball in each winning opening, and if a positive determination is made (YES),
The winning prize ball payout number of the winning prize in S210 is 15
It is determined whether it is for individual use. If the determination is affirmative (YES),
Proceeding to S220, "15" is added to the remaining ball counter (formed in the RAM 141) as the number of winning balls, and the process proceeds to S27.
Skip to 0. If a negative determination (NO) is made in S210, the process proceeds to S230, and it is determined whether or not the number of prize balls to be paid out for the winning prize port is six. Affirmative judgment (Y
If ES), the process proceeds to S240, where "6" is added to the remaining ball counter as the number of winning balls, and the process skips to S270. Further, if a negative determination (NO) is made in S230, the process proceeds to S250, and it is determined whether or not the number of prize balls to be paid out for the winning prize port is ten. If the determination is affirmative (YES), the process proceeds to S260, and "10" is added to the remaining ball counter as the number of winning balls.

Next, in S270, the prize ball number signal is transmitted from the main control unit 140 to the frame control unit 150.
If a negative determination (NO) is made in S200 or S250, the process skips to S280. S280
Then, it is confirmed whether or not the prize ball is detected by the prize ball payout sensor 214 in the prize ball payout device 109. If the determination is affirmative (YES), the process proceeds to S290, and “1” is subtracted from the remaining ball counter of the main control unit 140. When the count of the remaining ball counter advances and the count becomes zero, it means that all the payout prize balls have been paid out, and the main control unit 140 (prize ball payout management means) determines that all the prize balls have no problem. You can confirm that it was paid.

For example, in the prize ball payout managing means mainly constituted by the main control section 140, when the detected number of payout spheres exceeds a predetermined number of prize balls to be paid out,
Similarly, in at least one of the case where the number is insufficient or more than a predetermined number, the payout abnormality determination / output unit that determines that there is an abnormality in the prize ball payout and outputs a predetermined abnormality is realized by the control program described above. can do. Specifically, error display (including audio output etc.)
Or a process of temporarily stopping the operation of the gaming machine (that is, the program process of each control unit). When the program is stopped in the latter case, a backup process similar to that at the time of a power failure described later can be performed.

The payout abnormality determining / outputting means determines whether the number of payout prize balls detected exceeds a total number of prize balls stored in the total prize ball number storage means (remaining ball number counter) by a predetermined number or more. Similarly, in at least one of the case where the predetermined number or more is insufficient, it is determined that there is an abnormality in the prize ball payout, and an abnormal output may be performed.

For example, when the value of the remaining ball counter reaches 0 and the subtraction further proceeds, the value of the counter turns to a negative number. This means that the number of prize balls actually paid out is larger than the total number of prize balls paid out transmitted from the main control unit 140 to the frame control unit 150, and some abnormality has occurred. Means that. The first factor is considered to be the influence of noise, but as a more serious situation, for example, an unauthorized operation is performed on the frame control unit 150 side,
It is also conceivable that a prize ball was acquired that the player should not have originally obtained. On the other hand, as a reverse situation, if the subtraction does not proceed even after a considerable time has elapsed, it means that the prize ball payout is not normally proceeding due to a failure of the prize ball payout device 10 or a blocked ball. In such a case, various error processing can be performed by monitoring the remaining ball number counter.

FIG. 30 shows an example of the prize ball total storage job in this case. FIG. 29 shows steps S200 to S280.
If the output of the prize ball payout sensor 214 is detected in S280, the process proceeds to S700 and the remaining ball number counter is decremented. If the indicated value of the counter is a negative number, it is understood that the prize balls have been paid out in excess of the total number of prize balls, and the absolute value of the negative counter indicated value means the number of excess balls. In this embodiment, when the number of super-valued balls exceeds the limit value Nu (S701: YES), it is determined that there is an abnormality, and a prize ball excess error process is performed as the above-described abnormal output (S70).
2). As described above, this process is, for example, a process of displaying an error (for example, turning on an LED) or temporarily stopping the operation of the gaming machine.

For example, in the present embodiment, the following command transmission rules are set. In other words, "supply ball shortage" is detected when a ball runs out for a predetermined time (for example, 100 ms), "supply ball release is released" when a ball is detected for a predetermined time (for example, 3000 ms), and a predetermined time (for example, 200 m)
Each command of “lower tray full” is transmitted by the full tank detection of s). In addition, a predetermined time (for example, 200 ms)
Is detected, the lower receiving tray is fully released, the excess prize balls of the limit value Nu are detected, the prize ball excess is detected, and when the prize ball shortage of the limit value Nj is detected, the prize ball shortage is detected. Are transmitted.

In the command processing, STB:
The strobe signal is changed to an interrupt signal (INT or NMI (non-
The corresponding command is transmitted to the frame control unit 150 by the interrupt processing of “maskable interrupt)). Main control unit 140
The command is cleared on the side each time the interrupt processing is completed. When the NMI interrupt process is performed, the NMI interrupt process is described at the end of the corresponding program, and is set so that a reset is entered even if the program exits the STOP.

The causes of the "excess prize ball" include: (1) noise in the command line (interruption occurs erroneously); (2) hanging command line (the prize ball command is forged). (3) Disconnection of the prize ball counting sensor on the frame control board side (buffer (memory) value does not decrease); (4) RAM of main board due to noise or electrical abnormality
Clear (the main board (main control unit 140) is reset during the operation. Since data remains on the frame control unit 150 side, the appearance becomes the same as the prize ball excess, which may cause malfunction) (5) Abnormal prize ball dispensing device; The causes of the “insufficient prize ball” include: (1) disconnection of the prize ball counting sensor on the main board (the buffer (memory) value does not decrease); (2) abnormality of the prize ball payout device; Reset by noise of the frame control board;

Although the limit value Nu of the number of excess balls is set too small, an abnormal determination is made even for a daily error caused by a mechanical operation delay of the dispensing device. There is a problem that the response becomes troublesome. On the other hand, if the limit value Nu becomes too large, the abnormality occurrence determination is not made unless the number of excess balls becomes considerably large, so that the effect of preventing award ball loss due to an illegal payout operation or the like is diminished. Therefore, from this viewpoint, the limit value Nu
Is preferably selected in the range of 500 to 2500, for example. For example, the limit value Nu is set to be approximately the same as the number of award balls obtained by one special game (big hit) (for example, 700 to 700).
By setting the number to 2500 (specifically, 2000), there is an advantage that the player can accurately recognize an unauthorized operation that attempts to acquire a prize ball in an amount that cannot be normally obtained.

The lower limit of the limit value Nu is set to 500 when the respective conditions are suppressed to be smaller than the most common special game contents of 10 counts, 15 prize balls and 16 rounds. (For example, if the number of rounds (continuation) is 8,
This is because the number of prize balls is set to 7, for example), and there may be a slight variation depending on the setting of various game conditions. In addition, due to external factors such as nail adjustment, the time limit may be exceeded before the count number reaches the predetermined value, and the actually acquired prize ball number may fall below the expected prize ball number. . Further, the upper limit value of the limit value Nu is set to 2,500 in consideration of the above-mentioned most general special game contents, the variation in the actual number of obtained prize balls, and the like.

On the other hand, if the output of the prize ball payout sensor 214 has not been detected in S280, the flow advances to S703 to determine whether or not the shortage of payout prize balls has occurred. In this case, the payout abnormality determination / output means of the prize ball payout managing means, when the total prize ball number stored in the total prize ball number storage means becomes equal to or greater than a predetermined limit number, the prize ball payout. It is also possible to determine that there is an abnormality and to realize a function to output a predetermined abnormality. If the prize ball payout is delayed for some reason, for example, at the time of a big hit, a prize ball will frequently occur thereafter, and the value of the remaining ball counter will abnormally increase to a value which cannot be normally obtained. Therefore, as shown in S703 of FIG. 44, the total number of winning balls, that is, the limit number NJ is determined in advance for the increase of the remaining ball number counter value,
If the limit number NJ is exceeded, it is determined that there is an abnormality. For example, the processing proceeds to S704 to execute the prize ball shortage error processing. It is possible to grasp and eventually take appropriate error processing. The error process is, for example, a process of displaying an error or temporarily stopping the operation of the gaming machine.

Incidentally, 200 examples of the limit value Nj are, for example, 10 counts / 15 prize balls (= 150)
In the meantime, so-called “other winning prize openings” are 3 × 10 prize balls (30), and the starting opening prize is 3 × 6 prize balls (=
18), the numbers are totaled, and the fraction is rounded off (or rounded down / rounded up).

When a very large number of winning balls are generated in a short period of time, for example, at the time of a big hit, the limit value NJ increases even if the normal operation is ensured. Since it may not be possible to catch up, it is preferable to set the number to, for example, 25 or more in consideration of such a case. On the other hand, if this value is set too large, it cannot be determined that there is an abnormality unless a considerable amount of prize balls are delayed, and the player may be distrusted.
Therefore, the limit value NJ is preferably set to 300 or less.

It should be noted that as a countermeasure for the shortage of prize balls,
The processing as shown in FIG. 31 may be performed. That is, the elapsed time Tw since the last detection of the winning ball payout is measured, and when the elapsed time Tw becomes equal to or longer than the predetermined time Ta in S7041, the remaining ball number counter value becomes the shortage limit number NL.
It is determined whether or not the number has exceeded the limit.
Performs prize ball shortage error processing in. Even if the prize ball payout process is normally proceeding, for example, if the generation of the prize ball is stopped for a long time, the remaining ball counter should be zero or a value close to it. Is set as the lower limit reference number Nk, and only when the remaining ball number is equal to or more than the lower limit reference number Nk, the processing corresponding to the shortage of the prize ball payout in S7051 and below is performed. In addition, you may make it omit either one of the process corresponding to the above-mentioned prize ball payout excess and the process corresponding to the prize ball payout shortage.

Next, a preferred embodiment of the prize ball number data storage job, which is executed in a series of flows of the main job, will be described. Normally, in the electronic control unit 130 of the pachinko machine 1, when the ball enters each winning port, a predetermined number of prize balls to be paid out in accordance with the prize ball detection signal output from the prize ball detection unit is stored in the main control unit 140. , And once transmitted to the frame control unit 150 side. For this reason, the main control unit 140 needs a buffer for storing a certain number of winning balls in the order of winning. At this time, using a storage capacity of 1 byte (8 bits) as the minimum unit of the storage capacity, a predetermined number of award ball number data corresponding to each winning opening is temporarily stored in the order of winning, and each time, the frame control is performed. Each time a prize ball is paid out in the unit 150, one byte (8 bits) of storage capacity is released.

FIG. 35 shows a case where the winning order of the winning balls which have entered each winning opening is, for example, 6 paying wins → 15 paying wins → 15 paying wins → 6 paying wins → 6 paying wins. Thus, the storage of the number of prize balls to be paid out is sequentially accumulated. On the side of the frame control unit 150, payout of prize balls is performed in the order in which the number of prize balls is stored. If the number of prize balls stored in the buffer and the storage capacity released along with the payout of the prize balls are processed in a well-balanced manner, the storage capacity of the buffer does not become insufficient, but the ball enters the winning opening. When the frequency of the winning balls increases, for example, when the large winning opening 44 is opened for a predetermined time (for example, about 30 seconds) or a predetermined number (for example, 10) of game balls, the memory is stored. A situation occurs in which the amount of prize ball number data to be increased becomes large and the storage capacity of the buffer becomes insufficient.

In the following, assuming that the large winning opening 44 has been won, the required storage capacity of the buffer is calculated based on specific numerical values. For example, the firing interval of the game balls is set to 0.
If 6 seconds / 1 time, one round is 8 seconds (10 counts + 2 seconds interval), the time during the big hit is 128 seconds for 16 rounds. On the other hand, the payout speed of the prize balls is set to 1 second / one time by paying out 15 prize balls, and
It becomes possible to pay out 28 prize balls. Since the number of winning balls during the big hit is 160 (16 rounds × 10), at the end of the big hit, 32 (160-128) winning balls are required as the storage capacity of the buffer. However, this calculation assumes that the prize balls are paid out normally, and in actuality, there is a possibility that the payout of the prize balls may be delayed due to ball exhaustion, ball clogging, ball lending processing, etc. Buffer is required.

However, when the work area of the main control unit 140 is about 256 bytes in total, it is necessary to secure a work area for the current main program. 30-50
Limited to byte range. Accordingly, if payout balls are paid out in the winning order to each winning opening, it is considered that a buffer overflow frequently occurs in the above-described method.

Therefore, the concept that the minimum unit of the storage capacity stored in the buffer is 1 byte is wiped out, and a 2-bit unit set in advance as the storage means of the winning ball number data is used as the minimum unit of the storage capacity. If you use it with the storage capacity of the limited buffer area greatly increased,
Even if the award ball number data amount to be stored temporarily increases, the storage capacity does not become insufficient. That is, by using 2 bits as the number data of the prize balls to be paid out, the storage capacity in the buffer can be expanded and used four times. If these two bits are the minimum unit of the storage capacity, a predetermined number of prize ball number data is represented by two bits.
For example, if the number of payout balls is 6, "01b"; if the number of payout balls is 10, "10b"; if the number of payout balls is 15, "11b"; In this case, it becomes “00b”.

For example, the winning order of the winning balls entered into each winning opening is, as described above, 6 paying wins → 15 paying wins → 1
If you win 5 coins → 6 coins → 6 coins
The storage capacity of the buffer is only 10 bits. FIG. 36 shows the winning order of these winning balls in chronological order. The mode shown in this chronological order schematically shows a preferred embodiment of the prize ball number data storage job shown in FIG. It is. That is, the payout number of the prize balls is stored in the buffer in units of 2 bits, and is shifted to the left each time the next payout number data is stored. The shifted bit string is carried and stored every 8 bits (1 byte).

As described above, the storage capacity of the buffer is limited to 50 bytes as the upper limit of the area that can be provided as the buffer area.
00 (50 bytes × 8 bits / 2 bits) award ball number data can be written. FIG. 37 (a), (b)
33 schematically shows the flow of the award ball number data storage and retrieval job shown in FIG. FIG. 37 (a) shows the state at the time of storage, in which the prize ball number data is sequentially added to the head of the data string without performing a memory shift of the already stored prize ball number data. The winning prize balls are stored in the winning order.

On the other hand, FIG. 37 (b) shows the state at the time of memory retrieval, and the head (ie, the oldest) prize ball number data (1) is always the head position of the buffer 0 (ie, offset 0 = 0, offset 1 = 0),
The remaining bit string after the extraction of the two bits is right-justified memory-shifted in units of two bits. As a result, the winning ball number data of the winning order (2) (“11”: 15 paying winnings)
Moves to the storage and retrieval position of the buffer 0, and the information of the number of award balls to be paid out in 2-bit units is again arranged without gaps. Instead of transferring the bit string every two bits as described above, it is also possible to separately set a storage area in the buffer, temporarily save the bit string remaining in this area, and transfer this bit block.

The specific processing flow of FIGS. 36 and 37 will be described below with reference to FIG. The offset in the description of the prize ball number data storage job and the prize ball number data storage and retrieval job shown in FIG. 33 means the following. In the main controller 140, the RAM 141
An area other than the work area reserved for the main program is used as a buffer area, and a storage buffer is allocated to this buffer area.
As shown in FIG. 34, this storage buffer has a storage capacity of 0 to 49 for each byte (8 bits). In the bit string of this storage buffer, the arrangement direction of the memory cells is set to offset 0, and The arrangement direction of the bit string is represented as an offset 1 and is represented as a matrix-like offset table. Assuming that the minimum unit of the storage capacity is 2 bits, the offset 0 is represented by “0” to “3”. The offset counter has a routine so that the position of the next vacant cell at the head where data is written becomes the offset number. The storage buffer is RA
Aside from M141, a buffer-only memory may be provided.

First, in S700 of FIG. 32, it is confirmed whether or not the prize ball number signal is received. If the judgment is affirmative (YES), the flow proceeds to S710. Proceed to S710 and offset 1
Is checked to see if the value is “50”. That is, it is confirmed whether or not the value of the offset 1 is out of the area of the storage buffers 0 to 49. If the determination is negative (NO), the process proceeds to S720. If the determination is affirmative (YES), it is determined that data is written in all of the storage buffers 0 to 49, and the winning prize ball is invalidated and skipped. In S720,
The value of offset 1 is added to the address of storage buffer 0, any one of storage buffers 0 to 49 is selected, and the address of the storage buffer to which data is to be written is selected.

In the following S730, the value of offset 0 is added to the selected storage buffer, and any one of the storages a to d is selected. In subsequent S740, it is confirmed whether or not the prize ball number signal is “15”, and an affirmative judgment (YES) is made.
If so, the process proceeds to S750, and “03h” is displayed in the selected area.
Is set. That is, data “03h” corresponding to the prize ball number signal “15” is written in the selected storage area. In S760, “1” is added to the value of offset 0, and in S770, the value of offset 0 is “4”.
It is determined whether or not the above is true. If the determination is affirmative (YES), S
Proceed to 780. In S780, “0” is set to offset 0, and “1” is added to offset 1. That is, carry of the storage buffer is performed.

A negative determination (NO) in S740
If so, the process proceeds to S790 to check whether or not the award ball number signal is "6". If the determination is affirmative (YES), the process proceeds to S800, where “01h” is set in the selected area, and S76
Skip to 0. That is, in the selected storage area,
Data “01h” (16) corresponding to the prize ball number signal “6”
(Corresponding to binary number "01b"). If the determination is negative (NO), the process proceeds to S810. S8
At 10, check whether the prize ball number signal is "10" or not,
If the determination is affirmative (YES), the process proceeds to S820, where "02h" is set in the selected area, and the process skips to S820. That is, in the selected storage area, data “02h” (hexadecimal notation,
(Corresponding to the binary number "10b").

FIG. 33 shows a prize ball number data storage and retrieval job. In S900, it is checked whether or not the value of the storage buffer 0 is "0". If the determination is negative (NO), the process proceeds to S910. In S910, the value of the storage a in the storage buffer 0 is obtained, and in S920,
The value is shifted right by 2 bits in the order of the storage buffers 49-0. Proceeding to S930, it is determined whether or not the value of the offset 0 is “0”. That is, the cell position of the offset number, that is, the position of the offset pointer is obtained by referring to the offset counter, and it is confirmed whether the position of the offset pointer is the head of the storage buffer. If the determination is affirmative (YES), the process proceeds to S940,
"1" is subtracted from offset 1. In other words, in order to return to the head cell position where data is written, the digit of the storage buffer is lowered. Proceeding to S950, "3" is set for offset 0, and the offset pointer is moved to the leading cell position of the storage buffer that has been shifted down. Note that S93
If the determination is 0 (NO), the process proceeds to S960, and the offset 0 is subtracted by "1" to return to the top cell position where data is written.

In the above processing, the winning ball number data retrieved from the buffer memory is stored in the frame control unit 1 as described above.
Transferred to 50. The frame control unit 150 receives the award ball number data, increments the frame control unit payout counter formed in the RAM 152 by the number indicated by the award ball number data, and has already been described with reference to FIGS. The prize ball payout device 109 pays out prize balls. The prize ball detection signal from the prize ball payout sensor 214 is also fed back to the frame control unit 150, and every time the prize ball payout is confirmed, the frame control unit payout counter is decremented. When the number reaches zero, the payout of prize balls is terminated. Note that the frame control unit 150 is also configured to perform the same prize ball shortage error processing as that performed by the main control unit when the value of the remaining ball counter on the frame control unit abnormally increases due to, for example, clogged balls. can do.

In the above-described processing, a buffer memory is provided on the main control unit 140 side, and the winning ball number data is stored in the storage buffer in the order of detecting the winning balls, and is transferred from the first one to the frame control unit 150. By doing so, the payout of prize balls is performed in the order in which the prize balls are detected. The prize ball number information transferred from the main control unit 140 to the frame control unit 150 includes the unit prize ball number (the above-described 6 prize balls, 10 prize balls) which is the payout prize ball number per prize determined for each prize port. Prize balls or 15 prize balls). This allows the player
For example, if the game machine remembers the chronological order of winning balls with different unit prize balls, the gaming machine pays out the prize balls in the order they remember, so there is less discomfort and a sense of trust in the game. Will be enhanced. If it is desired to achieve such an effect more reliably, data is taken out from the storage buffer so that the number of payouts equal to or greater than the number of prize balls corresponding to each winning is not accumulated in the payout counter on the frame control unit side of the frame control unit 150. The time interval is set to a predetermined time or more in anticipation of the award ball payout time corresponding to the transmitted award ball number, for example, or to temporarily store one or a plurality of award ball number data in the time series in the frame control unit 150 side. It is effective to provide a buffer memory.

It should be noted that the frame control unit 150 prohibits the payout of prize balls when the received prize ball number information specifies a payout number that does not match the predetermined unit prize ball number. (Function realization of payout prohibition means). More specifically, the processing is such that the output of the operation command signal to the prize ball payout device 109 is stopped, or the frame control unit payout counter is not incremented.
As a result, the number of incorrect prize balls (for example, several thousand
An attractive number of prize balls, such as 10,000, which can expect a profit commensurate with the risk to a fraudulent person) is input to the frame control unit 150, and this is reliably identified and accurately determined. Processing can be performed.

For example, if the number of unit prize balls is determined in a plurality of ways (for example, 6, 10, 15) depending on the type of winning opening, the received prize ball number information indicates the plurality of unit prize balls. When none of the numbers of balls match, the payout of prize balls can be prohibited. According to this, when prize ball count data that does not correspond to any unit prize ball count is input to the frame control unit 150, this can be reliably detected as fraudulent data. Emission can be prevented. Therefore, more reliable prize ball payout becomes possible.

Next, the ball payout mechanism can be configured as a ball discharging means that is used for discharging the ball for lending and discharging the prize ball.
The payout ball detection mechanism includes ball detection means for distinguishing and detecting a lending ball and a prize ball, and the ball payout management means can use the detection information of the distinguished ball detected as the payout ball detection information. .

Preferred examples of the specific structure of the ball discharging means include:
A game ball passage disposed on the back mechanism board, wherein the game ball is branched from the upstream passage to a plurality of branch passages via the branch portion,
A ball discharge device having a ball feeding member disposed at the branch portion, capable of being driven and controlled in different directions, and having a ball feeding member capable of selecting and transferring a game ball to any one of the plurality of branch passages. Is mentioned. As a result, the ball discharging device can provide a unit lending ball number (eg, 25) or a unit prize ball number (eg, 6, 1).
5), and discharges a required number of balls. In the CR machine, the ball feeding member can be driven and controlled in different directions, and the game ball can be transferred by selecting a branch passage, that is, one of a prize ball passage and a ball lending passage. On the other hand, in the cash machine, the ball feeding member can be driven and controlled in one direction, and the ball lending passage can be closed by attaching a lid to one of the branch passages, and only the prize ball passage can be used. In addition,
Examples of the ball feed member include a shaft, a gear attached to the shaft, and a ball discharge motor that rotates the shaft. Specific examples of the ball detection means include a prize ball count switch, a ball lending count switch, and the like provided in each of the branch passages described above.

Hereinafter, a configuration example of the corresponding gaming machine will be described. FIG. 40 is a block diagram in this case, and is mostly the same as FIG. 16, but instead of the prize ball payout device 109,
A ball discharging device 99 that is used for both lending and discharging prize balls is connected to the frame control unit 150.

FIG. 41 shows a CR machine (FIGS. 41 (a) and (b)) requiring a prepaid card (prepaid value medium) to be exchanged for a monetary value medium as a value medium, and a cash medium or the like as a value medium. FIG. 41 is an embodiment showing each ball discharging means of a cash machine (FIG. 41 (c)) which requires the money value medium of FIG. As shown in FIGS. 41 (a) and (b), a tank rail 65 leading to a prize ball tank (not shown) is mounted on the back side of the back mechanism board 102, and a ball flow lower portion 70 is formed following the tank rail. ing. In the ball flow lower part 70, an upstream passage 71, a prize ball passage 73, and a ball lending passage 7
4 is formed, and a ball discharge device 99 is mounted. Each of the upstream passage 71, the prize ball passage 73, and the ball lending passage 74 is a double gutter as shown partially omitted in FIG. The first and second passages (71a, 71b, 73a, 73
b, 74a, 74b).

The upstream passage 71 is bent, and the upper end thereof is provided with a spherical outlet 8 opened at the lower right end of the tank rail 65.
5 is connected. In the vicinity of the upper end of the upstream passage 71, a contact-type replenishment ball out detection switch 86, and
A ball out switch lever 90 is provided. The ball-out switch lever 90 constitutes a part of the upstream side passage 71 and is capable of elastically swinging with the upper end as a fulcrum.
The ball-out switch lever 90 is adjacent to the normally-open replenishment-ball-out detection switch 86, and swings to turn the replenishment-ball-out detection switch 86 on / off.

In this embodiment, a torsion coil spring is used for the elastic operation of the ball cut switch lever 90, but other coil springs (tensile or compressive, etc.) and leaf springs can be used. Various elastic members can be employed. In this embodiment, the out-of-ball switch lever 90 and the replenishment-ball out detection switch 86 are separately provided for each of the passages 71a and 71b, and the presence or absence of a game ball in each of the passages 71a and 71b is individually detected. Is done. The out-of-ball switch lever 90 and the out-of-ball supply detection switch 86 may be provided in only one of the first and second passages 71a and 71b.

Each of the prize ball passage 73 and the ball lending passage 74 is vertically formed in a straight line, and extends substantially in parallel with each other. A prize ball count switch (prize ball payout sensor) 78 is mounted on the prize ball passage 73, and a ball rental count switch 79 is mounted on the ball rental passage 74.
Each of the switches 78 and 79 is a groove-type non-contact sensor.
Switch mounting portion 7 formed integrally with each passage 73, 74
8a, 78b, 79a, 79b. Each of the switch mounting portions 78a to 79b is provided with a corresponding one of the passages 7 to secure a space for receiving the switches 78 and 79.
It overhangs outside of 3,74. Each switch 7
Although magnetic types are used as 8, 79, various other general-purpose game ball detection switches such as optical types can be used.

As shown in FIG. 41B, the ball discharge device 99 accommodates a ball discharge motor 80, a ball feed member 76, and a ball discharge device sensor board 96 in, for example, a rectangular parallelepiped case 77. are doing. The ball discharge motor 80 is a stepping motor that can rotate forward and reverse, and
It operates based on 0 and a command from the frame control unit 150. Although not shown, an optical sensor having a pair of a light emitter and a light receiver is mounted on the ball ejection device sensor substrate 96.
A game ball passage 75 is formed in the case 77, and an upper end portion of the game ball passage 75 communicates with the upstream passage 71. In addition, the game ball passage 75 has a branch portion 72 on the way.
, And communicates with the prize ball passage 73 and the ball lending passage 74. That is, two inlets are opened at the upper part of the case 77, and four outlets are opened at the lower part. The upstream passage 71, the game ball passage 75, and the prize ball passage 73 and the ball lending passage 74 form a ball flow passage that bifurcates downstream.

The ball feed member 76 is an integrally molded product of synthetic resin, and is mounted on the output shaft of the ball discharge motor 80. Further, the ball feed member 76 has gears 82, 83 for transferring game balls and a gear (sprocket) 84 for detecting the amount of rotation on the outer periphery of a hollow shaft 81, and these gears 82, 83, 84. A gear 84 for detecting the amount of rotation, a gear 8 for transferring a game ball,
They are arranged in the order of 2,83. These gears 82, 83, 84 rotate integrally with driving of the ball discharge motor 80.

The transfer gears 82 and 83 are provided in the game ball passage 7.
The fifth branch 72 is located in the first passage 72a and the second passage 72b, respectively. The two gears 82 and 83 have the same number of teeth at the same pitch, and the recess between the teeth is set to a size that can accept a game ball (generally, a diameter of about 11 mm). Further, a phase difference is set between the two gears 82 and 83. Also,
The teeth of the gear 84 for detecting the rotation amount are formed at the same pitch, and the number of teeth is set to be larger than that of the gears 82 and 83 for transfer. The rotation amount detecting gear 84 has a positional relationship with respect to the ball discharger sensor substrate 96 such that each of its teeth intermittently intercepts the light of the above-described optical sensor as the gear 84 rotates.

The game balls are supplied to the ball lower part 70 via the prize ball tank 64 and the tank rail 65. Ball flow lower part 70
In, the game ball follows the curved path of the upstream passage 71 and flows down while pressing the ball-out switch lever 90. When a game ball is present in the ball path, the ball-out switch lever 90 is pressed by the game ball and is elastically rotated and displaced to turn on the supply-ball out detection switch 86.
When released from the pressing force from the game ball, the ball out switch lever 90 returns to the original position by using the restoring force of the torsion coil spring, and the supply ball out detection switch 8
6 is turned off. Utilizing the operation of the ball out switch lever 90, the presence or absence of a game ball in the upstream passage 71 is detected.

The game balls having passed through the upstream passage 71 reach the ball discharging device 99, flow into the game ball passage 75, and come into contact with the transfer gears 82 and 83. In one gear 82 (or 83), the game ball enters between the teeth, and in the other gear 83 (or 82), the game ball is placed on the tooth. Further, the subsequent game balls are placed on the preceding game balls and are sequentially deposited on the preceding game balls. At this time, since the upstream passage 71 is bent, the weight of the game balls accumulated in the upstream passage 71 is dispersed in multiple directions, and an excessive load is prevented from acting on the gears 82 and 83. Also, the upstream passage 7
The length of 1 is set so that the number of game balls between the gears 82 and 83 and the switch switch lever 90 becomes 25 or more. The number is the number of unit lending balls (the value obtained by dividing the unit ball lending amount (here, 100 yen) by the ball unit price (here, 4 yen)).
Matches.

When the prize ball is discharged, the ball discharge motor 80 of the ball discharge device 99 is driven to rotate forward by the frame control unit 150, and the gears 82 and 83 rotate counterclockwise in FIG. 41 (a). I do. With the rotation of the gears 82 and 83, the game balls are transferred to the side of the prize ball passage 73, released from the gears 82 and 83, and discharged to the prize ball passage 73. The released game ball is
After falling along the prize ball passage 73, the prize ball count switch 7
8 and are individually detected. On the other hand, these game balls flow out of the ball flow lower part 70 and reach the sorting part 101,
It is discharged to the upper plate 6.

The amount of rotation of the ball discharge motor 80 is determined by the number of unit prize balls to be paid out according to the mode of winning (here, six,
10 types and 15 types). Further, since a phase difference is set between the gears 82 and 83, the game balls are discharged alternately between the first and second passages.
Therefore, a total of an odd number of discharges for the two passages 73a and 73b is also possible. Further, the ball discharge motor 8
The rotation amount of 0 is a rotation amount detection gear (or sprocket) 84 formed integrally with the transfer gears 82 and 83.
Detected using That is, with the driving of the ball discharge motor 80, the teeth of the rotation amount detecting gear (or sprocket) 84 block the light of the optical sensor and change the output of the optical sensor. The rotation amount is calculated by referring to the pitch. The detection result of the rotation amount is used for checking the operation of the ball discharge motor 80 and determining a ball discharge abnormality.

An example in which a pachinko machine is used as a cash machine will be described with reference to FIG. 41 (a) are denoted by the same reference numerals with dashes and the description thereof is omitted, and new components are denoted by new numbers. Here, since the ball rental is supplied directly to the upper plate from outside the machine, there is no need to use the ball rental passage 74 'in the ball flow lower part 70'. Therefore, the stopper cover 88 is mounted on the switch mounting portions 79a ', 79b' of the ball lending passage 74 ', and the ball lending passage 74' is closed. The stopper lid 88 is a thick plate-shaped synthetic resin body having substantially the same outer dimensions as the ball lending count switch 79 (see FIG. 41A) used in the case of the CR machine. Does not have a ball passage hole. The stopper cover 88 does not have a function of detecting a game ball. Further, the rotation control of the ball discharge motor 80 is limited to only the forward rotation, and the rotation control in the reverse rotation direction is not performed. That is, the ball discharge motor 80 is used only for the prize ball discharge, and the detection of the game ball after the discharge is performed only for the prize ball.

In the above embodiment, the detection signal of the prize ball count switch 78 is sent to the main control section 140 or the frame control section 150 as the above-mentioned prize ball detection signal, and the remaining ball number counter (total prize ball number) is sent. It is used for subtraction. Only the prize ball discharge sensor 214 is replaced by the prize ball count switch 78, and the processing of the prize ball payout is basically the same as that shown in FIGS. 30 and 31. On the other hand, FIG.
It shows a schematic flow of the processing. That is, when the main control unit 140 detects a winning ball (S60), the main control unit 140 transmits information on the number of winning balls to the frame control unit 150 (S62), and requests a predetermined number of winning balls to be discharged. The frame control unit 150 rotates the ball discharge motor 380 according to the number of prize balls requested from the main control unit 140 (S64). The discharged prize ball is guided by the passage switching arm 301 and flows into the prize ball passage 373, is detected by the prize ball count switch 378 (S66), and the detection result is sent to the main control unit 140 (S68). The main control unit 140 confirms whether or not the required number of prize balls have been discharged based on the count value of the prize ball count switch 378 (S70), and ends the process. Also, the frame control unit 150 checks the number of emissions, and if the number of emissions is insufficient for the number of requests from the main control unit 140 (S7).
2: YES), the frame control unit 150 causes the discharge motor 380 to perform a retry operation (S74), and discharges the prize balls for the shortage.
The process ends. If the number of emissions is smaller than the number of requests from the main control unit 140 (S72: NO), the process ends.

Next, the configuration and operation of the game information backup function realizing portion when an abnormality occurs will be described. In this embodiment, a power supply voltage drop due to a power failure or the like is detected as an abnormality, and the work memory (storage area) of the control unit immediately before the power failure is stored in the work memory immediately before the power failure so that the game can be continued based on the game state before the power failure after the power failure recovery. An example will be described in which the stored game state information indicating the game state (hereinafter, also simply referred to as game information) is backed up. Note that the game state information in the present embodiment is defined as a series of game control programs for establishing a game mode of the game machine stored in various registers (details will be described later) incorporated in the CPU of each control unit. Game medium information related to a game value medium that establishes a game mode of a game machine, which is stored in a defined control program information or a RAM (details will be described later) of each control unit, that is, for example, the above-mentioned game ball (value medium) It means prize ball information and / or ball rental information related to payout and the like.

As described above, the pachinko machine 1 has at least three control units: a main control unit 140, a frame control unit (ball payout control unit (value medium payout control unit)) 150, and a special symbol control unit 160 (display). Control unit). Therefore, from the viewpoint of accurately recovering the operating state immediately before the power failure, it can be said that it is desirable to add the above-mentioned backup function realizing part to each of all of the control units 140, 150, and 160. However, the control information directly related to the profit of the player, that is, the game information of the main control unit 140 and the frame control unit 150 for controlling the information (value medium information) related to the distribution of the game ball as a value medium. In many cases, the operation state immediately before a power failure can be recovered with considerable accuracy simply by backing up the power supply.
And / or a mode in which a backup function realizing part is added to the frame control unit 150 can be adopted. In the present embodiment, a case where backup processing is performed by these two control units 140 and 150 and the special symbol control unit 160 is taken as an example, but the backup processing described below is performed by at least one of the above-described control units. Alternatively, it can be performed for two or more control units. When performing a backup process in the special symbol control unit 160, the distribution board 4 shown in FIG.
The backup terminal may be connected from 30 to the special symbol control unit 160.

FIG. 44 is a block diagram showing an example of a basic circuit configuration for implementing the backup function. The basic control flow of the circuit configuration and the backup process differs only in the type of data to be backed up.
The same applies to all of the control units 140, 150, and 160. In the following, regarding the reference numerals, the frame control unit 1
The reference numerals of the corresponding circuit components of the other control units 140 and 160 will be used in the drawings while using those related to 50 as representatives, and a common explanation will be given. For this reason, the frame control unit 150 is referred to as a backup target control unit (or simply, a control unit) 150. Needless to say, this does not necessarily mean that only the frame control unit 150 is a backup target. . Also,
As described above, in FIGS. 18 to 23, only the frame control unit 150 supplies backup power, but the power distribution board 4 is also supplied to the main control unit 140 or the special symbol control unit 160.
It is possible to supply a backup power supply by providing a separate terminal from 30.

First, the CPU 1 is mounted on the board of the control unit 150.
51 and a RAM 152 (the ROM 153 is not shown). The power to the CPU 151 and the RAM 152 is supplied by transforming, rectifying and smoothing the output voltage from the AC power supply unit 550 by the power supply unit 420. The power supply unit 420 that supplies the operating voltage to the CPU 151 and the RAM 152 employs, for example, the configuration shown in FIG. 24, and monitors the amount of supplied power and monitors the power supply to determine whether there is an abnormality in the power supply. A module (power monitoring means) 553 is provided. The output voltage from the power supply unit 420 to the CPU 151 and the RAM 152 is set to, for example, 5 V. In the event of an abnormality such as a power failure, backup power is supplied from a backup terminal (see FIGS. 24 and 45). Here, FIG.
In the power supply unit configuration shown in FIG. 7, the AC power supply unit 550 is realized as a function by the power receiving board 410 and the CP of the power distribution board 411.
A DC5V output terminal to each board on which U is mounted, here a DC5V output terminal toward the main control board 340, the special symbol control board 360 and the frame control board 350 (in FIG. 19,
The voltage of 5V is supplied from the sixth terminal of the connector 437, the sixth terminal of the connector 431, and the fifth terminal of the connector 434). In the present embodiment, the CP
Each of the U151 and the RAM 152 is a one-chip microcomputer.
It is also possible to adopt a configuration in which 52 and the like are formed of separate elements, and each element is mounted on a substrate.

FIG. 45 is a circuit diagram showing an example of the internal configuration of the power supply unit 420 shown in FIGS. 24 and 44 including the power supply monitoring module 553. First, the output voltage from the AC power supply unit 550 is supplied to the constant voltage circuit unit 552 (reference numerals 760, 762, 76 in FIG. 24) in the power supply unit 420.
5, 766, etc.) and rectified and smoothed to DC 5 V, etc., and input to the power supply terminal VCC of the frame control unit 150, while passing through the auxiliary power supply circuit 556 (power storage means 767 (see FIG. 24)). Connected to the backup terminal. The auxiliary power supply circuit 556 includes an AC power supply 55
The constant voltage circuit section 552
When the power supply from the power supply is interrupted or when the output voltage drops below a predetermined value, the operation voltage required for the RAM 152 is secured. Here, the storage means for maintaining the output voltage, specifically, a capacitor 557 (capacitor 769 (see FIG. 24)) forms the main part of the auxiliary power supply circuit 556. A capacitor 557b is provided on the way from the constant voltage circuit section 552 to the power supply terminal VCC. When the power supply is cut off, the capacitor 557b waits until the backup voltage is supplied from the auxiliary power supply circuit 556 by the capacitor 557b. The voltage supply is compensated. The capacitor 5
It is desirable that the capacity of 57b is set to such an extent that at least the operation of the CPU 151 and the RAM 152 can be secured until the backup processing described later is completed.

The capacitor 557 is provided with a constant voltage circuit section 552.
Is connected in parallel to the power supply line from the power supply to the power supply Vcc.
To maintain the charged state. When the power supply is cut off, the capacitor 5
57 is discharged while the backflow is prevented by the diode 558, and supplies an operating voltage to the RAM 152. Note that the capacity of the capacitor 557 is desirably set to such an extent that at least the operation of the RAM 152 can be ensured until a series of processes from a backup process to a return process described later is completed. In addition, the auxiliary power supply circuit 556 may be configured using a battery (in this case, either a primary battery or a secondary battery) 557a instead of the capacitor 557.

On the other hand, the output voltage VX from the constant voltage circuit section 552 is used as an abnormality detecting means (here, a power cutoff detecting means).
, And is compared with the voltage level VS of the voltage monitoring reference signal 567. VS is an output voltage (for example, 12 V) from a predetermined terminal of the constant voltage circuit unit 552, and can be set corresponding to, for example, a lower limit voltage level at which stable operation of the CPU 151 becomes impossible. Normally, VX> VS, and the output of the comparator 569 is in the first state (here, L level). However, when VX <VS due to power failure or the like, the output of the comparator 569 is different from the first state described above. There are two states (H level here).

The output of the comparator 569 is A as output means of a power cutoff signal (abnormality detection signal).
The signal is input to one terminal of an ND gate 570 (also serving as a main body of the abnormality confirmation information generating means). The other terminal of the AND gate 570 is supplied with a power-off signal generation reference signal 568. The power-off signal generation reference signal 568 has a voltage level VY corresponding to the second state of the comparator 569 (here, VS = VY for convenience). Therefore, only when the output of the comparator 569 is in the second state, the AND gate 570 outputs the power cutoff signal VK (here, L level), which is input to the interrupt terminal of the CPU 151.

The operating voltages of the comparator 569 and the AND gate 570 are supplied to the constant voltage circuit 552 (output: +
12V). In addition, AND gate 5
Since the operating voltage of 70 is + 5V, the voltage dividing resistors 570a,
The voltage is adjusted by an adjusting unit 570c (which may be a DC-DC converter or the like) composed of 70b. Also,
The voltage monitoring reference signal 567 and the power cutoff signal generation reference signal 568 described above are also generated by the constant voltage circuit 552 (the voltage level is adjusted by the adjusting unit 560 including the voltage dividing resistors 563 and 564). Since the power supply from the constant voltage circuit 552 is interrupted at the time of a power failure, the auxiliary power supply circuit 5 having a diode 562 and a capacitor 561 is provided.
A reference signal auxiliary power circuit 559 having the same configuration as that of the reference signal 56 is provided.

In this embodiment, FIGS.
As shown in (1), a power storage means (second power supply means) as a backup power supply is connected to a RAM 152 forming a work memory area of the CPU 151. As will be described later, when an abnormality such as a power failure occurs, game medium information for establishing a game mode is stored and held (backed up) in the RAM 152 by supplying auxiliary power from the power storage means. For example, when the CPU 151 receives an NMI interrupt signal at the time of occurrence of an abnormality, control program information for establishing a game mode written in a register (first storage means: described later) of the CPU 151 is transmitted to the CPU 151.
The control program information is transferred to the RAM 152 based on the control of 151, and the control program information is stored / held (backed up). In addition, game information stored in the RAM 152 at the time of occurrence of an abnormality is also stored and held in the RAM 152.

Note that AC 24 V from AC power supply section 550
It is also possible to monitor the other voltage level values and supply the backup voltage when the voltage level falls below a predetermined value. The timing of changing the monitored voltage value and the power interruption signal (NMI interrupt signal) can be variously changed according to the control unit to be backed up. For example, in order to prevent extra payout for the prize ball payout motor described above, it is possible to make a decision with reference to the drive voltage of the motor.
Further, it is possible to determine the timing for changing the power interruption signal and the system reset signal in consideration of the time required for payout.

Next, in the pachinko machine 1 of this embodiment, when an abnormality such as a power failure occurs, the contents of the registers shown in FIG. 46 are stored in the backup save area formed in the RAM 152 shown in FIG. Transferred to 595 and stored. FIG. 46 shows an example of the configuration of a register provided in the CPU 151. General-purpose register 69
In 0, there are a main register group 692 and an auxiliary register group 693, and when the main register group 692 alone becomes inconvenient, it is switched to the auxiliary register group 693 by a program and used. The A register is 8 bits and is also called an accumulator, and is used in an operation process and used for temporarily storing an operation result. The F register 699 is also called a flag register, and indicates the content of the result of the operation. Each of the registers B, C, D, E, H, and L is an 8-bit register, and a combination of BC, DE, and HL can be used as a 16-bit register.

On the other hand, the dedicated register 691 includes a 16-bit index register (IX, IY) 696, 697 for indirectly specifying an address and a stack pointer (S) for storing the address of the stack area of the RAM 152.
P) 695 and a program counter (PC) 694 in which the address of an instruction to be executed next by the CPU is entered.

Each register having such a configuration is not supplied with power supplementarily in the event of a power supply abnormality such as a power failure or a momentary interruption (first storage means), and the stored contents are lost as it is. . In the case of this embodiment, when an abnormality occurs, the contents stored in each register are stored in the RAM 15 shown in FIG.
The backup is performed in the save area 595 in the second work memory area 590. The RAM 152 includes a work memory area 590 of the CPU 151, and stores prize ball data related to payout of prize balls and ball loan data related to payout of lent balls as game medium information for establishing a game mode. It is configured to include at least an area 591 and a game data storage area 594 for storing a control program for establishing a game mode, data related to various game modes, and the like. Further, an abnormality confirmation information storage area (backup flag storage area) 592 for storing a power shutdown flag (backup flag) when an abnormality occurs,
A stack pointer storage area 593 for storing the stack pointer, and a backup save area 595 for saving and storing the contents of the register and the program counter.
It is comprised including. In the work memory area 590, game data storage areas (prize ball / loan ball data storage area, game data storage area) 591 and 594 for storing normal game data are formed. At the time of processing, it functions as a backup data storage area as it is, and when an abnormality occurs, the storage is held as it is.

Hereinafter, a flow of the backup process will be described with reference to a flowchart. The processing flow of each control unit is classified into three: 1) power-off (backup) processing, 2) normal-time processing, and 3) power-on processing. FIG.
Indicates a process at the time of power-off. When an NMI interrupt signal is input, the program counter (see FIG. 46) before the NMI interrupt is saved in a backup save area 595 (see FIG. 47) of the RAM in S1 and S2. In FIG. 46, all the registers shown in FIG. 46 are saved (backed up) in the backup save area 595. Further, in S3, the stack pointer (see FIG. 46) is stored in the stack pointer storage area 593, and the above-described backup flag (information for indicating the presence or absence of backup) is turned on.
And store it in the backup flag storage area 592 (S4). The backup flag is set only when a backup process corresponding to the input of the power cutoff signal is executed. In other words, it is not set when a trouble other than a power cut-off abnormality occurs (for example, program runaway). After the above processing is performed, access to the RAM 152 is prohibited (S5).

FIG. 49 shows a process at the time of turning on the power (restoring the power). When a system reset signal is input,
In S61, access to the RAM 152 is permitted,
In S62, it is confirmed whether the backup flag is ON. If the backup flag has not been turned ON, a series of normal processing shown in FIG. 28 is performed after the RAM 152 is initialized. When the backup flag is ON, the restoration process is performed with reference to the contents stored and held in the RAM 152 shown in FIG. That is, after the stack pointer is restored in S64, the back flag is turned off (S65), and in S66, all the registers saved when the power is turned off are restored, the program jumps to the stored address of the program counter, and the power is turned off. Restore the memory state at the time of occurrence.

The type of game data involved in such backup processing differs for each control unit. Frame control unit 150
As for the above, an example thereof has been described above, but other control units will be described below. For example, in the case of the main control unit 140,
The following are related to the prize ball motion control. -The added value of the fifteen prize ball count data associated with the passage of the count detection switch 53, the count detection and the specific area passage detection switch 54.・ First-class starter (ordinary electric accessory) winning detection switch 17
The added value of the number of 6 prize balls associated with passing s. If these added values are known, the number of prize balls discharged can be calculated.

Also, a first-type starting port (ordinary electric accessory) winning detection switch 17s, a count detection switch 53, a count detection and a specific area passage detection switch 54 shown in FIG.
Using the detection results of the above and the obtained values of the special symbol success / failure determination random number, etc., a state of waiting for a customer who is not playing the game, a state of playing the game but no start winning (variable preparation state), a start winning The data and the like used for discriminating the state where there is a game and the special game state are also game data handled by the main control unit 140. In addition, when a winning start is detected, a determination is made based on a random number value, and the result of the determination, including the winning start-up, also becomes important game data. When backing up the above data, it can be said that it is desirable to perform this in the main control unit 140.

On the other hand, game data relating to special symbol display includes the following. As described above, the main control unit 140
Creates, as a set of command data, data for performing the corresponding symbol display pattern image display control in accordance with the determination content of the hit / fail determination, and transmits the data to the special symbol control unit 160. In this case, the command memory (RAM1 in FIG. 16)
42, it is necessary to include this in the backup data storage area.) The data of the element command required is set. For example, when the main control unit 140 performs backup, the element command The unprocessed data may be stored and held as game data. In this case, the command is sequentially transferred to the special symbol control unit 160, and if the command is deleted (or invalidated) from the transferred one, only the unprocessed command remains on the main control unit 140 side, which is convenient. . Further, a timer value allowed until the start of the next element module may be stored as a part of the game data.

On the other hand, there is a method of backing up the command data transferred to the special symbol control section 160 as game information on the special symbol control section 160 side. This is stored in the command memory formed in the RAM 162 of the special symbol control unit 160, and the corresponding element module is activated as the image processing proceeds. Therefore, when aiming for a more accurate display operation return, it is desirable to store the state of the execution of the element module as game data. As described above, it is also possible to collectively receive a plurality of command data from the main control unit 140 side, sequentially read and execute the command data, but in this case, sequentially delete the command from the processed command ( Or disable)
Then, only the unprocessed material remains, which is convenient.

On the other hand, although there is a portion that overlaps with the above, game data transmitted from the main control unit 140 to the frame control unit 150 includes the following. These data can be backed up on either the main control unit 140 side or the frame control unit 150 side. If the number of 15 prize balls is not 0, 15 prize ball number data is transmitted, and if the number of 6 prize balls is not 0, 6 prize ball number data is transmitted. In other cases, for example, when the passage of a game ball is detected at the lower left and right winning openings 21 and 22 and the left and right entrances 42 and 43, ten pieces of prize ball number data are sent.

A predetermined number of winning ball number data corresponding to each winning opening is stored in the winning ball number data storing means of the main control unit 140.
The winning order is stored in the buffer in units of 2 bits. Based on the prize ball number data transmitted from the main control unit 140 to the frame control unit 150, the frame control unit 150 pays out the prize ball number from the prize ball payout device 108 in the order of winning, and every time a prize ball is paid out. The 2-bit storage capacity is released. The payout prize ball detecting mechanism attached to the prize ball payout device 108 detects the number of the prize balls when the prize balls are paid out.
Is checked against the prize ball number data transmitted to the frame control unit 150 to determine whether or not the prize ball payout based on the detection information is normal. When the number of prize balls is paid out based on the instruction of the frame control unit 150, the number of prize balls paid out is subtracted from the total number of prize balls stored in the total prize ball number storage means of the main control unit 140. Will do. For example, a buffer for storing the prize ball number data transmitted from the main control unit 140 to the frame control unit 150 stores information on the number of prize balls to be paid out every two bits in a winning order. The total number of prize balls to be paid out is stored in the total prize ball number storage means in the section 140, and when power supply is interrupted during the payout of prize balls, the continuation of the payout operation is restored using these data. It can be done later.

For example, in the case of a backup process related to a prize ball discharge job (for example, the frame control unit 150), FIG.
As shown in FIG. 0, the award ball data to be processed (for example, the award ball number data to be processed) or the award ball data in the process of being processed (data indicating the award ball discharge status) by the method described above.
Is used to restore the storage state of the work memory area 590 (FIG. 47), and the prize ball discharging operation is restarted based on the restored storage content. On the other hand, when backing up the flow of the control command after the determination of the correctness in the main control unit 140, as shown in FIG. 51, the work memory area 590 (FIG.
7), the control command (for example, the special symbol main job (S90) and the command job (S1
70) etc. are resumed.

Next, when a power interruption abnormality occurs due to a power failure or the like, a backup process is performed by hardware as follows. That is, when a power interruption occurs, FIG.
, The output voltage of the constant voltage circuit unit 552 decreases, and as a result, as described above, in the power supply monitoring module 553 functioning as a power monitoring unit, the AND gate 57
0 inputs the power cutoff signal to the interrupt terminal of the CPU 151. In response to this, the CPU 151 starts the backup processing routine of FIG. It should be noted that the CPU 151
While referring to the backup processing execution program stored in the OM 153 (see FIG. 16), for example, the capacitor 55
The backup process is executed based on the supply of the auxiliary power from 7b. Here, the capacitor 557b is configured as a third power supply unit that supplies the information transfer unit (CPU 151) with power for performing an information transfer process (backup process) when an abnormality occurs.

In FIG. 44, the interrupt terminal to which the power cutoff signal is input is connected to a non-maskable interrupt (NMI).
t) a terminal, an interrupt processing routine (backup processing routine) executed by activating this terminal
Is performed without any interruption even if another interrupt signal is input to the INT terminal of the normal interrupt. Also, if there is a previously executed interrupt process, it is forcibly terminated,
NMI interrupt processing (backup processing) has priority.

When the game is normally ended by turning off the power switch at the time of the business shop closing, etc., this is not detected as a power-off abnormality, and the backup process is not performed (or the one that has been performed once). It is desirable to keep it invalidated). There are various methods for this. For example, there is a method in which an end signal is generated by turning off a power switch, and a means for inhibiting generation of a power cutoff signal by the end signal is provided. Then, after the prohibition processing of the generation of the power supply cutoff signal is completed, the power supply from the power supply is cut off. For example, as shown in FIG. 44, a tri-state buffer 595 that uses the end signal as an inhibit input is provided on the output line of the power cutoff signal from the power monitoring module 553. When the end signal is input to the inhibit terminal of the tri-state buffer 595 as the L level, the output of the tri-state buffer 595 becomes a high impedance state, and the output of the power cutoff signal is prohibited. This method
As described above, this is particularly effective when performing backup processing by an NMI interrupt that cannot be interrupted by a program. In addition,
As described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-85421, the RAM 15
There is also a method of performing initialization of 2.

The embodiments of the present invention have been described above.
The present invention is not limited to this, and is not limited to the wording of each claim unless it deviates from the scope described in each claim, and extends to a range that can be easily replaced by those skilled in the art, and It is possible to appropriately add an improvement based on the knowledge usually possessed by those skilled in the art. In addition, the present invention can be applied not only to the first-class pachinko machines, but also to various types of ball game machines such as so-called right goods, wings, models called arrangement balls, and general electric machines.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a front view of the gaming board.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing an arrangement of substrates of each accessory on a game board.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a game ball path on the back of the game board and a mounting arrangement of switches and the like.

FIG. 5 is a rear view of the pachinko machine shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view of a back mechanism board of the pachinko machine of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view of a part of a structure of a flow path of a safe sphere.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged perspective view of a part of a flow path of the safe sphere of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of a part of the flow path of the safe sphere of FIG. 7;

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of a prize ball payout device.

FIG. 11 is a structural explanatory view of a prize ball payout device.

FIG. 12 is a sectional view taken in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 11;

FIG. 13 is an explanatory view of the operation of the winning ball payout device.

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating the operation of the prize ball payout device.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory view showing another mode of the winning ball payout sensor.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram showing an example of an electronic control device of the pachinko machine shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 17 is a circuit diagram showing a configuration example of an electronic control device including a power supply unit.

FIG. 18 is a detailed circuit diagram of the first division of FIG. 17;

FIG. 19 is a second detailed circuit diagram of the same.

FIG. 20 is a detailed circuit diagram of a third division.

FIG. 21 is a fourth detailed circuit diagram of the division.

FIG. 22 is a fifth detailed circuit diagram of the division.

FIG. 23 is a sixth detailed circuit diagram of the division.

FIG. 24 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a voltage conversion unit.

FIG. 25 is a circuit diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a voltage conversion unit.

FIG. 26 is a circuit diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a voltage conversion unit.

FIG. 27 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a supply path of a backup power supply.

FIG. 28 is a flowchart showing the flow of a main job in the electronic control device of FIG. 16;

FIG. 29 is a flowchart showing the flow of a prize ball total storage job.

FIG. 30 is a diagram showing a case where an abnormality determination / error processing of an excess or shortage of prize balls is performed according to a value of a remaining ball counter.
13 is a flowchart illustrating a modification example of the total prize ball storage job.

FIG. 31 is a flowchart showing another example of FIG. 30;

FIG. 32 is a flowchart showing the flow of a prize ball number data storage job.

FIG. 33 is a flowchart showing the flow of a winning ball number data storage and retrieval job.

FIG. 34 is an explanatory diagram of a winning ball number data storage buffer.

FIG. 35 is an explanatory view showing storage of the number of award balls to be paid out and retrieval of the storage in the related art.

FIG. 36 is an explanatory diagram showing the storage state of the number of prize balls to be paid out in the present invention.

FIG. 37 is an explanatory view showing the retrieval of the number of winning balls stored in FIG. 36;

FIG. 38 is a flowchart showing the flow of another mode of the award ball number data storage job.

FIG. 39 is a flowchart showing the flow of another mode of the award ball number data storage and retrieval job.

FIG. 40 is a block diagram showing a modification of the electronic control device in the case where a ball discharge device is provided.

41A is a rear view of the lower part of the ball flow and its periphery when a pachinko machine is used as a CR machine, FIG. 41B is a side sectional view of the ball discharge device of the pachinko machine and its periphery, and FIG. The rear view of the ball flow lower part and its periphery when a pachinko machine is used as a cash machine.

42 is a flowchart showing a control procedure of a prize ball operation corresponding to the structure of FIG. 41.

FIG. 43 is an explanatory view showing an example of a cover means for covering a substrate.

FIG. 44 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration for realizing a backup processing function when an abnormality occurs.

FIG. 45 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a power supply monitoring circuit.

FIG. 46 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration example of a register.

FIG. 47 is an explanatory view showing the contents of a work memory area of a RAM;

FIG. 48 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing when power is turned off.

FIG. 49 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing when power is turned on (power is restored).

50 is a flowchart in the case of turning off the power in FIG. 48, which is embodied in a prize ball discharge job.

FIG. 51 is a flowchart in a case where the processing at the time of power shutdown in FIG. 48 is embodied in a flow of a control command after a determination as to whether or not the power is off;

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Pachinko machine (ball game machine) 140 Main control unit 150 Frame control unit 151 CPU (information transfer means) 152 RAM (second storage means) 218 Ball path 340, 350, 360, 380, 440 Control board 420 Power supply unit ( (First power supply means) 423 power storage means (second power supply means) 425 to 428 voltage converter 553 power supply monitoring module (power monitoring means) 690, 691 registers (first storage means)

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Akinori Kato 125 Yoryocho, Nishi-ku, Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture Inside Yo-Elec Co., Ltd. F term (reference) 2C088 BA32 BA88 BC58 CA08 CA09 CA19 CA30 CA31 EA10

Claims (12)

[Claims] A first power supply unit, a power monitoring unit that monitors the power supply of the first power supply unit and determines whether there is an abnormality in the power supply; A second power supply unit that generates auxiliary power, a first storage unit that does not compensate for the retention of the stored information when the abnormality occurs, and a second storage unit that compensates for the retention of the stored information when the abnormality occurs. 2. A gaming machine comprising: a storage unit; and an information transfer unit that transfers the storage information of the first storage unit to the second storage unit in accordance with the presence or absence of the abnormality. 2. The gaming machine according to claim 1, wherein said storage information of said first storage means is game state information indicating a game state. 3. The gaming machine according to claim 2, wherein the gaming state information is control program information defined by a gaming control program that enables establishment of a gaming mode. 4. A game medium information for establishing a game mode is stored in the second storage means, and when the abnormality occurs, the control program information and the game medium information are stored in the second storage means. The gaming machine according to claim 3. 5. The gaming machine according to claim 4, wherein said gaming medium information is value medium information. 6. The gaming machine according to claim 5, wherein the value medium information includes prize ball information. 7. The gaming machine according to claim 5, wherein the value medium information includes ball rental information. 8. The gaming machine according to claim 1, wherein said first storage means is a register. 9. The storage information stored in the register,
9. The gaming machine according to claim 8, including address data. 10. The gaming machine according to claim 1, wherein said second storage means stores abnormality detection information indicating presence / absence of said abnormality. 11. A main control unit for controlling a gaming machine, and a value medium payout control unit that operates in accordance with the main control unit and controls the payout of a value medium. The gaming machine according to any one of claims 1 to 10, further comprising a first storage unit and a second storage unit. 12. The power supply of the second power supply means,
The gaming machine according to claim 11, wherein the gaming machine is supplied to the value medium payout control unit via the main control unit.