JP2001353253A - Game machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a game machine capable of increasing playability by displaying at low cost a real image large enough to be viewed, at the same time the symbols displayed on drums, without increasing the fatigue of a player' s eyes. SOLUTION: A plurality of symbols are displayed on a plurality of drums 4 provided within a body 3 and a player 5 operates switches 8 to stop the drums 4 which are driven for spinning. When the drums 4 are stopped, a state can be changed according to the disposition of symbols which can be viewed from a display window 6 on the front side of the body. A projector for projecting image display light to form a real image A' is provided on at least either each drum 4 or the vicinity of each drum 4.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a game machine having a rotary drum such as a slot machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A plurality of drums provided in a main body having a coin slot are provided with symbols such as letters, numbers, symbols, and pictures, and when the rotating drum is stopped by a player's switch operation. , Depending on the arrangement and combination of symbols visible from the display window located on the front side of the main unit, the state can be changed to a state where many coins are paid out or no coins are paid out Machine is widely used.

In recent years, such amusement machines have been provided with an auxiliary display device such as a liquid crystal display, a lamp which lights up in accordance with a program in accordance with the progress of the game, and an auxiliary drum at a position different from the drum. By changing the coin payout condition in accordance with the displayed content or by predicting the coin payout condition in the next game, the game rules are complicated and the playability is improved.

[0004]

The enlargement of the auxiliary display device as described above increases the manufacturing cost. Further, the above-mentioned amusement machine stops a rotating drum by a player's operation. Therefore, the player tries to recognize the symbol on the rotating drum so that the drum can be stopped at a timing at which advantageous coin payout conditions can be obtained. In this case, since the drum rotates at a very high speed, it is necessary to watch the inside of the display window in order to recognize the symbol. Then, the effective visual field range of the player becomes very narrow, and it becomes difficult to recognize the display content of the auxiliary display device provided at a position different from the above-mentioned drum. For this reason, the recognition of the display content of the auxiliary display device is delayed, which hinders the improvement of playability, or the viewpoint is frequently moved greatly to recognize both the symbol on the drum and the display content of the auxiliary display device. There is a problem that tire fatigue increases.
This problem is remarkable when the size of the auxiliary display device is increased to improve the playability by making the display contents easy to understand, and the distance between the auxiliary display device and the drum is further increased due to the increase in size. .

[0005] An object of the present invention is to provide a game machine capable of solving the above-mentioned problems.

[0006]

According to the present invention, a plurality of symbols are written on each of a plurality of drums rotatably provided in a main body, and when the rotating drum is stopped by a player's operation, the main body is rotated. In an amusement machine in which the state can be changed according to the arrangement of symbols visible from the display window, image display light is projected so that a real image is formed on at least one of the drum and the vicinity of the drum. A projection device is provided. The projection device can be composed of, for example, a display that emits image display light, and an optical system that condenses the image display light and changes the optical path by refraction, reflection, diffraction, or the like. According to the configuration of the present invention, a real image formed by projecting image display light on at least one of the drum and the vicinity of the drum is displayed so as to be superimposed on a symbol on the drum, and is displayed on the symbol. Can be displayed close to each other. As a result, the distance between the symbol and the real image can be made smaller than the distance between the image displayed by the auxiliary display device and the symbol as in the related art, so that the player can move the symbol and the real image almost from the viewpoint. Can be recognized without.

[0007] It is preferable that a screen is provided on the main body from the periphery of the display window, and a real image is formed by projecting the image display light on the surface of the screen. Thereby, the symbol on the drum and the displayed real image can be brought as close as possible.

It is preferable that the outer periphery of at least one drum is formed of a transparent or translucent film, and a real image is formed by projecting image display light on the surface of the film. As a result, the symbols on the drum and the displayed real image can be clearly distinguished in a superimposed state and visually recognized by the player.

In the present invention, at least one of the drums has a transparent or translucent cylindrical peripheral wall, the projection device is disposed inside each peripheral wall, and the image display light is projected on an inner periphery of the peripheral wall. It is preferable that a real image is formed by the above. As a result, the symbols on the drum and the displayed real image can be clearly distinguished in a superimposed state and visually recognized by the player. In addition, by disposing the projection device in the peripheral wall of each drum, it is possible to prevent an increase in the size of the game machine.

In the present invention, it is preferable that the portion where the image display light is projected is made capable of scattering the projected image display light. The projection portion of the image display light can scatter the image display light by, for example, applying fine particles, forming irregularities, or including particles that cause scattering in the film. The visibility of the real image displayed by scattering the image display light can be improved.

The projection device forms an image and emits image display light corresponding to the image, and the image display light is projected to enlarge the real image more than the image formed by the display. It is preferable to have an optical element for changing an optical path. Thus, a large real image can be displayed without requiring a large display.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In a slot machine type amusement machine 1 shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of (three in the illustrated example) drums 4 are provided in a main body 3 having a coin insertion slot 2, and an outer periphery of each drum 4 is provided. , A plurality of symbols such as letters, numbers, symbols, and pictures are written in parallel in the drum circumferential direction. A plurality of coins can be inserted into the main body 3 from the coin insertion slot 2 in advance. Note that a light source may be provided in the drum 4 so that the light from the light source passes through the drum 4 so that the symbol can be visually recognized.

A display window 6 provided on the front side of the main body 3
, One of the symbols on each drum 4 is visually recognized.
In the present embodiment, three symbols on each drum 4 are visible from the display window 6. The display window 6 is the main body 3
Is positioned slightly above the player 5 at a position facing the front side of the player.

Each of the drums 4 is driven to rotate about a horizontal axis by a player 5 operating a start switch 7. The operation is stopped by operating the stop switch 8. By operating a switch 8 provided individually for each drum 4, each drum 4
Can be individually stopped. When the drum 4 is stopped, the state can be changed according to the arrangement of the symbols visible from the display window 6, the arrangement of the symbols, and the like. In the present embodiment, when the player 5 presses the line designation button switch 9 provided on the main body 3,
The symbol arrangement line in the display window 6 is designated,
A lot of coins are paid out by arranging specific symbols on the line. If no specific symbols are laid out in parallel, coins are not paid out.

A screen 11 is provided so as to protrude from the upper part of the periphery of the display window 6 in the main body 3. Fine irregularities are formed or fine particles are applied or contained on the surface of the screen 11 so that the image display light can be diffusely reflected and scattered. The screen 11 is molded from, for example, a transparent, translucent or opaque synthetic resin material.

A projection device 20 shown in FIG. 2 is provided inside the main body 3, and projects image display light to form a real image A 'on the surface of the screen 11. The projection device 20
Has a display comprising a light source unit 21 and a liquid crystal display unit 22, a lens system 23, and a reflection optical system 24.

The light source unit 21 includes a halogen bulb 21a serving as a light source, a dichroic condenser mirror 21b for condensing light from the halogen bulb 21a, and a condenser lens 21.
c, a cold mirror 21d that reflects visible light and transmits infrared light in the collected light.

The liquid crystal display unit 22 has a transmission type liquid crystal display element 22a and a circuit board 22b for driving the display element 22a, and receives an image signal from a control device (not shown) built in the main body 3. A corresponding image is formed, and the image can be changed according to the image signal. When the light emitted from the light source unit 21 passes through the display element 22a, image display light corresponding to the image formed by the display element 22a is emitted.

The reflection optical system 24 includes a first mirror 24
a, a second mirror 24b, and a third mirror 24c. The image display light is guided to the lens system 23 by being reflected by the first mirror 24a. The lens system 23 includes a plurality of lenses and collects the image display light. The image display light collected by the lens system 23 is reflected by the second mirror 24b and the third mirror 24c, emitted from the inside of the main body 3 to the outside, and guided to the screen 11. Thus, a real image A 'is formed on the screen 11. As described above, the portion of the screen 11 on which the image display light is projected can scatter the projected image display light. The screen 1
When the image display light scattered on 1 reaches the eyes of the player 5, the real image A 'is visually recognized.

FIG. 3 explains the image forming action of the real image A '. The light emitted from the light source unit 21 passes through the display element 22a to become the image display light L, and the image display light L becomes the image display light L. By being condensed by the lens system 23, an enlarged real image A 'of the image A formed by the display element 22a is formed. That is, the optical path of the image display light is changed by the optical elements constituting the lens system 23 so that the real image A 'is enlarged than the image A. The focal position defined by the lens system 23 does not need to be exactly on the screen 11 as long as the real image A 'can be visually recognized even if there is some deviation as shown in the figure.

According to the above configuration, the real image A 'formed by projecting the image display light near the drum 4 can be displayed as close as possible to the symbol on the drum 4. As a result, the distance between the symbol and the real image A 'can be made smaller than the distance between the image displayed by the auxiliary display device and the symbol as in the related art. Can be recognized almost without moving the viewpoint. This allows the real image A 'to be formed in the field of view recognized by the player 5 even when the player gazes at the rotating drum 4, and is thus complicated without tiredness of the eyes of the player 5. By incorporating various game rules, it is possible to improve the playability by providing a variety of play contents. For example, when a specific real image A 'is displayed, the number of coins to be paid out can be increased. Further, the projection device 20
The image display light projected from the display is scattered at the projection site, and the real image A ′ is enlarged as compared with the image A displayed by the display device. Since no display is required, manufacturing costs can be reduced.

FIG. 4 shows a first modification of the above embodiment.
The difference from the above embodiment is that the screen 1
1 in that the image display light is projected so as to directly form the real image A 'on each drum 4. Fine irregularities are formed on the surface of each drum 4 so that the image display light can be diffusely reflected and scattered. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5A, each drum 4 is composed of a body 4a having an outer periphery along a cylindrical surface, and a flexible transparent film 4b covering the outer periphery of the body 4a. I have. On the surface of the film 4b constituting the outer peripheral side of each drum 4,
A sawtooth-shaped step surface 4b 'and unevenness for scattering image display light are formed. The film 4b is molded from a synthetic resin such as an acrylic resin by a molding die 30 as shown in FIG. 5 (2), and is thereafter attached to the outer periphery of the body 4a as shown in FIG. 5 (3). The inner surface 30a of the mold 30 corresponding to the surface side of the film 4b has a sawtooth-shaped step 30a 'as shown in FIG. 5 (4), and unevenness for scattering image display light is formed on the surface of the film 4b. It is roughened by etching so that it can be formed. Others are the same as those of the above embodiment, and the same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals. According to this modification, the symbol on the drum 4 and the displayed real image A 'can be clearly distinguished in a superimposed state and visually recognized by the player 5, and the visibility can be further improved. When the symbol from the light source provided in the drum 4 is transmitted through the drum 4 and the symbol is visually recognized, the intensity of the image display light is sufficiently increased so that the real image can be visually recognized together with the symbol. Note that the film 4b may be a translucent film containing particles (for example, glass particles) that cause irregular reflection in its material.

FIG. 6 shows a second modification of the present invention, which includes a projection device 20 'different from the projection device 20 of the first modification. That is, the light source unit 2 in the projection device 20 '
1 'condenses the light from the halogen bulb by the condensing mirror 21b' and emits it through the condensing lens 21c '. The emitted light passes through a transmissive liquid crystal display element 22a 'driven by a drive circuit board 22b' to become image display light. The image display light is reflected by the first mirror 24a 'and guided to the lens system 23'. The image display light collected by the lens system 23 'is transmitted to the second mirror 24a.
By being reflected at b ′, the light is emitted from the inside of the main body 3 to the outside, and is projected on the drum 4. Other parts are the same as those of the first modification, and the same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals.

FIGS. 7 and 8 show a third modification of the present invention.
The difference from the above embodiment is that the screen 1
1, the image display light is projected from the projection device 20 "disposed inside the transparent or translucent cylindrical peripheral wall 4a" in each drum, and a real image A 'is formed on the inner periphery of each peripheral wall 4a ". That is, a stepping motor M for rotating and driving the drum 4 is arranged inside the peripheral wall 4a "of each drum 4, and the projection is performed between the outer peripheral surface of the stepping motor M and the inner peripheral surface of the peripheral wall 4a". An apparatus 20 "is arranged. The peripheral wall 4a "of each drum 4 is formed from a transparent or translucent material.
In order to be able to scatter the projected image display light, fine scattering irregularities are formed, or fine particles are applied or contained, even if a transparent or translucent film containing the particles is attached. Good. The stepping motor M and the projection device 20 ″ are supported by a main body 3 of the amusement machine 1 via a support member (not shown).
A display comprising a light source unit 21 "and a liquid crystal display unit 22"; a lens system 23 ";
The liquid crystal display unit 22 "forms an image corresponding to an image signal from a control device (not shown) built in the main body 3 by the transmission type liquid crystal display element 22a", and the image is formed by the transmission type liquid crystal display element 22a ". The light emitted from the light source unit 21 ″ passes through the display element 22 a ″, so that the display element 22 a ″ can be changed.
The image display light corresponding to the image formed by is emitted. The reflection optical system 24 "has a first mirror 24a" and a second mirror 24b ".
The lens system 23 "is reflected by the mirror 24a".
It is led to. The lens system 23 "condenses the image display light. The image display light condensed by the lens system 23" is reflected by the second mirror 24b "and guided to the inner peripheral surface of the drum 4. A real image A 'is formed on the inner periphery of the peripheral wall 4a "of the drum 4, and the image display light is
The real image A 'is visually recognized by the player 5 by transmitting a ". The other parts are the same as those in the above embodiment, and the same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals. The displayed real image A 'can be clearly distinguished in a superimposed state and visually recognized by the player 5, and the visibility can be further improved.In addition, the projection device 20 "is disposed in the peripheral wall of each drum 4. Thus, it is possible to prevent the game machine 1 from being enlarged. Further, in the case of this configuration, the real image A 'can be displayed on each of the three drums 4 independently of each other.
When this overlaps the display area in the display window 6 and stops, the real image A 'is displayed, and it is possible to provide an unexpectedness that the image itself further changes even after the drum 4 stops.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment and modifications. For example, in the first to third modified examples, the real image A ′ may be formed on at least one drum 4 instead of forming the real image A ′ on all the drums 4.
In addition, the arrangement of the components of the projection device can be arbitrarily changed without impairing the function of the amusement machine. Further, the structure of the projection device is not limited as long as it can form a real image on or near the drum by projecting image display light. For example, a reflection type liquid crystal display may be used instead of the transmission type liquid crystal display element in the above embodiment. An image display light may be emitted by using an element and reflecting light from a light source unit, or a self-luminous display such as a CRT display may be used instead of the light source unit and the liquid crystal display unit. Further, a hologram element may be used instead of the above lens system, or the reflecting surface of a mirror constituting the reflecting optical system may be a curved surface so as to have a condensing function. When a real image is formed on a drum, a lens system and a reflection optical system may be designed so that an image distorted according to the curvature of the drum can be formed. Further, a real image may be formed by projecting image display light on both the screen surface and the drum, or may be formed by projecting image display light on a main body around a display window near the drum. In short, it is sufficient that a real image can be formed by projecting image display light on at least one of the drum and the vicinity of the drum. Further, the amusement machine to which the present invention can be applied is not limited to the slot machine itself, but can be applied to any amusement machine having a built-in rotary drum. Further, a staging function may be added such that the screen 11 can be swung according to the presence or absence of the display and the screen 11 is flipped up when there is no display.

[0026]

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a game machine capable of displaying a large real image that can be visually recognized simultaneously with the symbol on the drum at a low cost without increasing the eyestrain of the player, thereby improving the playability.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an amusement machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration explanatory view of a main part of the amusement machine according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a view showing an image forming operation of a real image in the amusement machine according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a main part of a game machine according to a first modification of the present invention.

FIGS. 5A and 5B are diagrams illustrating a structure of a drum, FIG. 5B is a diagram illustrating a method of forming a film constituting a drum, and FIG. 5C is a diagram illustrating a method of manufacturing a drum. ,
(4) is a structural explanatory view of the film forming die.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a game machine according to a second modification of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a main part of a game machine according to a third modification of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a partial perspective view of a game machine according to a third modification of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Amusement machine 3 Main body 4 Drum 4a "Peripheral wall 4b Film 5 Player 6 Display window 8 Stop button switch 11 Screen 20, 20 ', 20" Projection device 21, 21', 21 "Light source unit 22, 22" Liquid crystal display unit 22a ′ Liquid crystal display element 23, 23 ′, 23 ″ Lens system A ′ Real image

Claims (6)

[Claims] A plurality of symbols are written on each of a plurality of drums rotatably provided in a main body, and symbols which are visible from a display window of the main body when the rotating drum is stopped by a player's operation. And a projection device for projecting image display light so that a real image is formed on at least one of the drum and the vicinity of the drum. A game machine characterized by the following. 2. The amusement machine according to claim 1, wherein a screen projecting from a peripheral portion of the display window is provided on the main body, and a real image is formed by projecting the image display light on a surface of the screen. 3. The game according to claim 1, wherein the outer periphery of at least one drum is formed of a transparent or translucent film, and a real image is formed by projecting image display light on the surface of the film. Machine. 4. At least one drum has a transparent or translucent cylindrical peripheral wall, wherein the projection device is disposed inside each peripheral wall, and the image display light is projected on an inner periphery of the peripheral wall of the drum. The amusement machine according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a real image is formed by performing the operation. 5. A game machine according to claim 1, wherein the portion on which the image display light is projected can scatter the projected image display light. 6. A display device for forming an image and emitting image display light corresponding to the image, and a display device for displaying the image so as to enlarge the real image more than an image formed by the display device. An amusement machine according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising an optical element for changing an optical path of light.